27 inches above the ground

Great photography has the power to capture the essence of the world around us and at the same time carries within itself the story of the “journey” that the gaze had to make to build it.

The story of a photographic shot is made up of tests to be faced both on a technical level and on a personal level. In the case of Ralph Milewski, final winner of the Block Notes Photo Contest 2023, the passion for photographic art challenges the limits imposed by an important physical disability that the German photographer was able to transform into opportunities, producing an original and surprising opus, capable of overcoming pre-established boundaries.

Milewski’s photography has something special, an anomalous point of perspective, different from anyone else’s and which makes his images unique. As the photographer tells on his website, the use of a wheelchair and limited arm mobility force him to keep the camera fixed between his legs about 27 inches above the ground (about 70 cm). A look at the world which, despite the limits of spatial coordinates, is able to reveal unusual and unexpected details that most people doesn’t notice.

The relationship between disability and photography creates a tension between limits and openness, and within these limits Milewski plays his game to the best of his possibilities, to the point where information about his disability becomes secondary and what remains is an original vision on the world, able to look beyond the wall.

Sirmione Award for Photography

We propose again in the photo gallery the four images with which Ralph Milewski was elected Final Winner of the Block Notes Photo Contest 2023.