Natalia Poniatowska’s Photographs Reveal The Sentimentality Of Strangers

Explaining her work as an exploration of “the potential ground between fine art and documentary photography”; it is the way that Poniatowska has curated this series that makes her photographs of strangers in strange places appear sentimental. Shot in multiple countries, in predominantly outdoor places that the artist herself does not belong to, at face value there appears little to connect the images from the series. And yet, it is precisely their ambiguity that allows them to work so well together. Poniatowska presents small moments of unknown people’s lives, set amongst landscapes that are both familiar and foreign—it almost feels like you have seen the images before. As the title intimates, the photographs from the series have never before been featured. Poniatowska has retrospectively curated the collection from her archive of work; inspired by the vast number of photographs taken and never shared.