KAROLINA WOJTASIK

My work as a photographer is rooted in lineage and guided by heritage. My grandfather’s ancestral ties to a Tibetan community in Buryatia—where Mongolia and Siberia meet—introduced me to a worldview in which identity, land, and spirit are inseparable. That early connection fueled my interest in the pursuit of documenting indigenous communities around the world.

As I travel across continents, I am drawn to cultures that sustain a profound and reciprocal relationship with the earth. My photography grows directly from this inheritance and from a desire to understand how land, culture, and identity converge. Growing up with the story of my grandfather’s Indigenous roots nurtured a deep curiosity about the multitude of native communities and the ways they cultivate harmony with their environments.

I approach each documentary series with a consistent ethic of respect. I listen, I wait, and I work to integrate myself within the community. My aim is always collaboration—with the people whose stories unfold before me. I do not want to be an outsider looking in; I want each photograph to reflect the agency of its subjects and the integrity of the world they inhabit.

Every project becomes a bridge: between past and present, between my own heritage and the lives of others, and, most importantly, between humanity and the land that sustains us all. I invite viewers to reflect on their own relationship to our sacred landscapes, to their ancestry, and to more grounded, peaceful ways of coexisting on this planet.

-Karolina Wojtasik