Paul Kolenda’s fascination with photography stems from his aspiration to take postcard quality photographs. Paul has been take pictures of his surroundings since he was a child, but has only really been shooting seriously for a little over 10 years. Since college, Paul has traveled the world. The first place to truly inspired him was a spontaneous visit to Fiji. Paul recalls the heightened colors of the land and in the water. Paul says, “That trip I just had my point and shoot camera and underwater camera. What they captured was out of this world.” Upon his first trip to Morocco, Paul realized that the main thing he wanted to capture in his photographs were specific memories. While some of these memories have significance to the artist, the true goal is to instill a sense of that memory and moment in time in the viewer. Paul explains, “When living in London I could go anywhere. Traveling has always been a part of my life and seeing all these places, capturing memories, and being able to recall a sense of smell or taste has been my goal when capturing these places. ” When recalling his trip to Jemaa el-Fna in Marrakesh, Paul says, “The booth I remember the most was owned by a fisherman whose family had been in this one spot for about 80 years. His specialty was fresh fish he would bring in from the coast every morning. The fish he would cook right in front of you and was served with traded flat bread with grilled eggplant on top. I captured these moments so I can recall these memories every time I see the photos.”
(from the Chicago Perspectives exhibit at the Jackson Junge Gallery)