Corpus Christi

The Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) or Boże Ciało is observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday in villages, towns and cities all over Poland. It is a national holiday, and virtually the whole town is involved in an organized procession that parades through the streets. A traditional procession leaves the church after mass and continues on the streets with banners and holy pictures. Young girls dressed in their first communion dresses scatter rose and other flower petals on the streets. These petals are for Christ, who is believed by Catholics to walk the streets with the people during the processions. In the central part of the procession is the shrine of The Holy Host. Many people kneel in the street as the shrine passes them. The procession walks around the streets stopping at various temporary shrines to sing hymns and pray. The shrines are decorated with branches from Birch trees, and members of the procession tear off twigs from these shrines for luck and happiness. Many homes display religious icons in their windows and traffic is stopped throughout the city.

Malbork Castle

Malbork Castle, located on the bank of the Nogat River in Poland, is the world's largest brick gothic castle.



The castle was built in 1274 by the Teutonic Order, a German-Roman Catholic religious order. It was originally named Marienburg-or "Castle of Mary" in German. The walls around the castle and its numerous subdivisions encase 52 acres.

The castle was home to the Order for almost 200 years. In 1456, during the Thirteen Years' War, the Poles forced the Order out and the castle became part of Royal Prussia. The castle was given to Poland after the signing of the Peace of Torun in 1466.

Combat during WWII destroyed more than half the castle. Restoration has been ongoing since 1962, with successful completion of most of the castle. The main cathedral is the only structure awaiting restoration.

The Dunes

Over the weekend, May 29 and 30, the group went to Słowinski National Park in Łeba (Słowiński Park Narodowy) The group trekked through the "moving dunes" on the edge of the Baltic sea. The constant wind moves the dunes 10 to 30 feet each year. After wandering through the dunes with pants rolled up and shoes in hand, we walked back towards the car along the beach.

We headed back to the hotel where there was a bonfire waiting for us. The students from the photography school in Sopot also joined us on the weekend trip.

The Obstacle Course

On our first full day in Kroscienko nad Dunajcem, a town nestled in the mountains of Poland, the group stumbled upon an outdoor amusement park, ABlandia. The obstacle course positioned high in the trees caught the groups attention from across the street. Wooden bridges and zip lines were calling our names. Upon further investigation, one could take the blue-line obstacle course, which would take about 45 mins. If, however, you are feeling adventurous, you could attempt the red-line which is more difficult and take about one and a half hours. Pawel and Pantelis decided to dare the red-line. ABlandia also has swimming balls, or huge, inflatable plastic balls that float on water. The rest of the group couldn't resist getting in while waiting for Pawel and Pantelis to finish.

Greg Pierzga is pictured helping Karuna get into one of the swimming balls. He has been the manager at ABlandia for two years. Pierzga previously worked as a photographer at a Kraków newspaper.

Streets of Kraków

After a 8-hour train ride, we arrived in Kraków while the rain was pouring hard. We set out the next day to enjoy the scenes in Kraków and take pictures. Tourists crowded the streets in Kraków. The Square was full with people - tourists buying souvenirs or little trinkets from stalls; people basking in the sun while having a cup of coffee; street performers having their pictures taken by tourists and so on.

The Workshop

Tuesday, May 18 we had a studio-lighting workshop with Pawel, an instructor at Szkolafotografii in Sopot.

Pawel demonstrated how to move soft boxes around the studio to manipulate light on the model's face. He also taught us how to use the light meter (pictured).

After his demonstration, we put his techniques to work. We split up into pairs and photographed each other, working on the lighting techniques he taught us. The hands-on approach really enhanced the experience and reinforced what he said. When we were finished shooting portraits of each other, Pawel projected our works on the wall and did a short critique.

The Town

Saturday, May 15 was our first full day in Poland. We fought off the jet lag and explored the town of Sopot. We walked down by the beach which lays along the Baltic Sea (pictured below). The weather was overcast, but luckily the rain stayed away. We ventured into the local bakery and enjoyed faworki. We were also shown around the photography school that Professor Chamberlin taught at while he lived in Sopot.

After a long day of exploring, we headed to the local grocery store and bought some ingredients to make sandwiches. Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the sandwiches, looking through the photos we took, and conversing about our first day experiences.