Author name: Miłosz Cordes

Milosz J. Cordes (né Zielinski) holds PhD in Cultural Studies. He lectures at DIS Study Abroad and does research at Lund University. He likes using photography both in classes he teaches and in his research. He lives in Frederiksberg, Denmark.

5 frames with Zenza Bronica SQ-A in Northern Zealand, Denmark – By Miłosz Cordes

I was born in January in a small town which back then was still communist Poland. The transition to market economy began a year and a half later. It brought a new opening albeit at a high price: the country was shaken, and many people were left to their own devices, unable to cope with the realities of dashing capitalism.

Although my childhood was happy, I recently realised how much I felt the consequences of this change. Contrary to my peers in the West and in large Polish cities, I did not experience material wealth.

Film Photography and a Political Studies Course – By Milosz Jeromin Cordes

Before moving to Denmark in July 2021, I spent 9 years working in the Polish diplomatic service. I was posted to Brussels, Malta and Kaliningrad. While working in Russia, analogue photography became my main hobby, given the challenging state of Russia-West relations and limited possibility to involve in other activities.

Already as a diplomat, I defended my PhD thesis. I did not really need the degree back then but whenever I did some lecturing, I felt that academia was something I wanted to dive deeper into. I longed for more contact with students interested in memory and identity studies. I also had a strong wish to share knowledge with others – interact with them, involve in dialogue, and present my perspective on social phenomena without imposing it.

A Few Thoughts on how Analogue Photography Helped me Settle in – By Milosz Jeromin Cordes

I moved to Denmark in July 2021. Prior to that, I lived and worked in Russia (some of you can remember my mini reportage on the Ponarth district of Kaliningrad). The move happened because of love, naturally. My then-fiancée and I decided that three years of a long-distance relationship had been more than enough. Because of the pandemic and other factors, we had already procrastinated the moment of taking the jump into the unknown.

Old brick houses, although neglected and partly modified, have retained its charm.

Submerging in Ponarth with Minolta X-500 – By Milosz J. Zielinski

The Pregel, flowing through Kaliningrad Oblast and finding its way to Vistula Lagoon just outside of Kaliningrad, is a peculiar river. It starts where two other streams – Angerapp and Alle – join. At some point in time the current became so strong that the Pregel bifurcated into Pregel proper and Deime. Yet it was still not enough to keep the element at bay. Just outside of Kaliningrad, water flow gets so immense that the river meanders, creating islands and meadows so swampy that they have to remain largely uninhabited and serve only for summerhouses and fishing spots.

Scroll to Top