by Yvette Depaepe 
Published the 20st of July 2020

Tomasz Buczkowski (Tomush) has amazing skills when it comes to aesthetic and compositions in architecture and abstract photography.  When shooting simple typical things, he wants to show buildings in such a way that it becomes interesting.Tomasz loves playing with lines, shapes, colours and symmetry.
For him, the most rewarding is to get out of a seemingly boring and grey building, a fragment which, after proper colour-coding and retouching, becomes a new story.

First of all, I would like to thank you very much for inviting me to this interview, I’m really honoured !  
I am 47 years old, I was born and live in Szczecin, Poland. I work in the IT industry on a daily basis. I am an absolute amateur and self-taught photographer, Photography came into my life about 14 years ago, when I bought my first small compact digital camera.


What first attracted you to photography, Tomasz?
At the beginning, I guess I photographed my family, especially my daughters, like everyone else. Looking for my way in the portrait. But it didn't bring the expected results J
A friend of mine convinced me to buy a DSLR camera  to be able to use different lenses.  That was the moment my head opened up to new ideas. 
So I think the breakthrough was the purchase of a 10-20mm wide-angle lens.

During my first photographic walk around my town with this lens, I went to the old town, where I took a picture of a small, narrow street. The picture wasn't typical as I placed the camera on a tripod about 20 cm above the cobbled street and by shooting vertically thanks to the focal length of this lens I could show the unique atmosphere of this place and buildings from such a perspective.

I made the photo available in the internet gallery of one of the photographic magazines, showing it out of curiosity what will others say about it. It turned out that it was published in a department called "Editors recommend: " Since then, 95% of my photos are about architecture, buildings and interiors. The inspiration for my frames, perspective and subtlety of colours for my photos were works of Marzena Wieczorek (marzenaw), (my best compliments Marzena !)

Can you describe your overall photographic vision?
Simple, typical things, I want to show the most unreal, to show the building in such a way that it is interesting but at the same time not revealing what it is and where it comes from.
Regardless of the category of the picture, I always want to that my works be based on real pictures. With colours and framing I want to extract only what I see different or notice different in ordinary shots.

The most rewarding thing for me is to get out of a seemingly boring and grey building, a fragment which, after proper colour-coding and retouching, becomes a new story.

'absent'

'A bit of lines' 

'concrete triangles'

Why are you so drawn by Architecture and Abstract Photography?
There are practically no limits to the photographs of architecture or abstract works, because they can be photographs of whole buildings and their tiny fragments, elements of technical infrastructure, windows, etc.

I love playing with lines, shapes and colours. I like symmetry very much and I used to look for it at all costs in everything I photographed, which I do not hide sometimes brought interesting effects, such as the picture below, which shows a non-existent facade of the mall.

'The wall'

I love to watch and photograph, above all, modern architecture, so much technical or industrial.

'X'

What is more important to you, the mood,/story behind your images or the technical perfection?
It doesn't matter if there is a building in the picture all covered in fog or a colourful facade photographed at the perfect golden hour, then each of these pictures should be taken in its own way.

'Concrete stairs'

Do you prepare carefully the locations where you are intending to photograph?
No, it's the opposite. I just pick a location and the rest is spontaneous. Only before taking the pictures I try to impose on myself some subject or some rules I try to keep at all costs, it gives me the possibility of a greater photographic exploration of a given object.

'Snake - …..'

What gear do you use (camera, lenses, bag)?
From the beginning I have been using Nikon's equipment in DX format, ND flirting and several lenses of which I use most often: 10-20mm, 70-300mm, 10.5mm.

What is your most important advice to a beginner in Architecture and Abstract Photography and how do you get started?
I remember that when I registered on 1x.com in 2010, I was looking at pictures from the Architecture category, where there were amazing black and white pictures of tall buildings with beautifully blurry clouds, I thought I would never be able to take such wonderful pictures!

My basic advice that I also follow is this: look at as many pictures as possible of other photographers, look for inspiration in their work and you will surely find your path and remember never to delete your pictures, even if you don't find it interesting at the moment, sometimes after a few years you may find that you took a really impressive picture that you didn't appreciate.

'viewing point'

Describe your favourite photograph taken by you and why it is special to you?  
The photo I took in 2011 in Szczecin This was the first work in which I managed to combine all the elements I like in the pictures, that is: not a typical building, playing with perspective, lines and shapes and of course the publication on 1x.com !  . I was extremely happy, when my first photo was approved for publication on 1x .

'-'

Stay safe and good light to everyone !

'II'

'lift off'

'*'

n/t

'bow'

'Y'