Exploring The Relationship Between Plants And People

Since 2014, photographer Magdalena Kmiecik and artist Ania Gubernat have been working together on collaborative projects, bringing together their photography and painting. Their recent project ‘Botanica’ presents a series of diptychs that explore the relationship between people and plants. Kmiecik and Gubernat, both originally from Poland, were inspired by research conducted by Cleve Backster in the 1960s, which concluded that plants are in deep emotional contact with those who care for them. Each diptych is composed of a photo and the image of a fine art work, juxtaposed to inspire emotive sentiments about their parallel counterparts in the frame. Regarding their exploration of the relationship between nature and humanity, Kmiecik and Gubernat comment that “all organisms on earth have a soul, and every soul should be respected… Plants influence man and vice versa.”

All images © Magdalena Kmiecik and Ania Gubernat