For this 23-year-old Polish visual artist and graphic designer, photography is a story of atmosphere. But also of healing.

This discovery, combined with exploration, had therapeutic and cathartic effects at a difficult time in his life. A solitary figure, a silhouette lurking in the shadows, shimmering neon lights, car headlights, skyscrapers lost in the mist, nebulous landscapes.

The images reveal their full cinematic intensity. No wonder. Dominik Podlipniak draws inspiration from cinema, film soundtracks, and the lighting techniques of cinematographers. The child seen from behind, watching the burning house, is a clear reference to the fire scene in Andrei Tarkovsky's *The Sacrifice*. Others seem to have stepped straight out of graphic novels, neo-noir, and science fiction films like *Blade Runner 2049* or *Dark City*. You can almost hear the ambient music or synthwave. Elsewhere, references to Edward Scissorhands also emerge.
Hopper, like that single light shining in an apartment in a building with a dark facade. Lighting, composition, and storytelling are thus the key words in the image-making process of this young talent, who captures fleeting moments reflecting his vision of the world.

IAMPODLIPKE