Observing Unity Tradition & Modern Life Within
The Hasidic Community In Poland

Edge of Humanity Magazine

3 weeks ago

Photographer Paweł Adamek is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘Between Prayer and the Journey’. To see Paweł ’s body of work, click on any photograph.

Between Prayer and the Journey

It’s a long-term photographic project I’ve been developing since 2016, born out of my interest in documentary photography and a need for attentive observation of moments in human life. Through my images, I try to preserve what is fleeting—emotions, gestures, moments of focus, and shared experiences.

I’m drawn to the unity of the Hasidic community, its deep attachment to tradition, and the ways it engages with the modern world. Without passing judgment, I aim to document—observing, capturing, and preserving.

Over time, individual photo essays evolved into a long-term documentary project grounded in relationships and continuity of observation. For many Hasidim, a pilgrimage to the grave of a tzaddik is a once-in-a-lifetime event; for me, it is an opportunity to closely encounter an experience of profound faith, joy, and mysticism.

When I photograph, I try not only to look, but above all to feel—believing in an intimate connection between the photographer and the person being photographed.

Paweł Adamek — a photographer and photography teacher. He works at the intersection of documentary practice and social observation, focusing on people, interpersonal relationships, and the emotions that emerge in extreme or defining situations. He treats photography as a tool for attentive observation and as an attempt to understand the experience of an individual immersed in a collective.

Alongside his photographic work, he independently designs and produces his own photo books and exhibition catalogues, treating the publishing format as an integral part of the creative process. He is a student of Creative Photography at the Institute of Creative Photography at the Silesian University in Opava.

His work has been exhibited in Poland and internationally and featured in the documentary series Fotohistorie (episode 6) for TVP Historia.

All images and text © Paweł Adamek