Meeting with Magdalena Wosinska, author of the book Fulfill the Dream
Moderation: Szymon Andrzejewski
There will be an opportunity to purchase the book during the meeting
15.09.2024, 11:00
FACHstudio, Dworcowa 73/4
Free admission
Fulfill the Dream is a documentary photobook by Polish photographer Magdalena Wosinska that captures the American skate culture of the '90s through color and black-and-white snapshots. The scene's energy, creativity, and rebellious spirit influenced fashion, music and artistic expression, shaping a generation of American underground youth. The book features Chad Muska, Austyn Gillette, Jim Greco, Harold Hunter, Ed Templeton, Eric Ellington, Ali Boulala, and many other influential skaters.
Beyond the book's broader examination of American skate subculture, Wosinska's project is a deeply personal journey through her teenage years and an exploration of what it means to be a misfit in a world of misfits. She presents some of her first photographs, taken at the age of 14.
Her visual diary captures the duality that has shaped her life: the joy and exhilaration of skateboarding alongside meaningful human connection and the adrenaline-fueled world of drugs, a first love, prejudice, a deep need to find a place of belonging and struggles with mental health. Shortly after immigrating to the U.S. from communist Poland in 1991, Wosinska's coping mechanism for culture shock was her camera. It became her passport to a world ruled by boys and a language for fitting in and forming heartfelt friendships in the skate community. Through raw, visceral portraits and self-portraits created in juxtaposition to the male-dominated scene, she captured the now-famous teen spirit of the '90s, reflecting the ever-shifting balance between the highs and lows of belonging and the essence of years of making dreams come true as a skate photographer through perseverance, diligence, and hard work. Alongside the teenage angst of the era, the project explores themes of resilience, female empowerment and the relentless pursuit of goals.
Fulfill the Dream is the photographer's fourth book. Her previous books, Bite It You Scum (2010), The Experience Vol.1 (2015) and Leftovers of Love (2018) captured the spirit of American wanderlust, the search for femininity and the pain of heartbreak. Wosinska's book projects have been exhibited at Fahey/Klein Gallery (Los Angeles) and Webber Gallery Space (London), with Leftovers of Love securing a place in the MOMA Library Collection. Wosinska's latest retrospective show 'In Between Life' was at Malaga's Centro Cultural during Moment's Festival '23.
Magdalena Wosinska
As a photographer, Magdalena Wosinska’s values are rooted in her own status as an outsider – first, as a newcomer to America from Eastern Europe, and later, as a woman in the-male dominated worlds of skateboarding and heavy metal music – and shaped by her own experiences of personal challenge and growth. For Wosinska, the camera is a way of building meaningful connections between herself, her subjects, and the viewer.
The qualities that underpin Wosinska’s work also set it apart. Communication and empathy lie at the heart of her practice. For Wosinska, photography is a creative exchange based in authenticity and trust, and the set is a space where both photographer and subject can share a sense of vulnerability and openness. Ensuring that her subjects feel safe and valued allows Wosinska to capture emotions and personal narratives in which viewers can also recognize themselves.
Wosinska considers it a privilege to work with people – to witness history through the eyes of others, and to use the camera as a way of exploring our shared humanity. Her bold visual style – shaped, in part, by many years of experience photographing subcultural communities – forms a strong counterpoint to the warmth and sensitivity of her portrayals. Through her photography, Wosinska embraces the passion, richness and complexity of human experience.