Camino, is a travel series which deals with the subjects of solitude, spirituality and hardship. It mainly tires to capture the beauty of the journey and least of all focuses on the actual destination of the trip, Santiago.
There are many ways of going to Santiago and many people may take months to reach their destination. These photographs were created during a 10 day pilgrimage on the Camino de Portugal, starting in Porto and covering over 250km. Unlike the mainstream, my reasons for doing the Camino de Santiago were not religious. It was an attempt to reconnect with myself and to turn down the noise that surrounds all of us. I find that in the current times, it is often too easy to get off track. The decision to undertake this journey was a direct reaction to the everyday addictions that life offers and the habits that a person easily slips into.
It was an attempt to escape the feeling of hopelessness, urgency and fear that exposure to media creates and the sense of worthless and judgment the social media and other people project on to us. It was an attempt to try to live in the present moment as much as possible and to find like-minded people that have things to teach and stories to tell. It was an attempt to strip one’s life to the bare minimum and to be grateful for the basic things in life. It was an attempt to challenge oneself physically by walking through rain for hour on end. And lastly, it was an attempt to see what can be achieve when one put their will and mind into it.
The photography language in this series is minimal, often focusing on details with strong colours and contrast. The perspective is ofter two dimensional. It tells a story of a journey and discovery of the world through first hand experience. It gives hints of the reality but tires not show too much. The series welcomes the viewer to play with the idea of what it would be like if he took the same path.
About Karin Kunzo
Karin Kunzo was born in Bratislava, Slovakia. She discovered travelling at an early age and before she turned 30, she lived in cities such as Berlin, Sydney, New York, Prague, Cologne and Perth. Karin has always been fascinated by traveling, escapism, personal development and reality that is away from the mainstream . She would ofter seek experiences that were challenging and were mean to push one to the limit.
Karin first discovered photography while in high school but didn’t consider it as a career path until much later on. She would take a camera on her journeys to avoid feelings of loneliness. After finishing high school, she moved to New York where she got accepted to Parsons School of Design. She finished her studies in Sydney, where she studied Media, Arts and Production. Although, she mainly focused on film during her studies, she discovered that photography provides her with the possibility of using minimalistic language that film does not. [Official Website]
After finishing her university, she decided to backpack around Australia, which later resulted in a series called ‘Road Trip’. This series was later selected by Agathe Gaillard and published in Le Journal de la Photography.
During her time in Western Australia, she took a documentary workshop with Sam Harris and Claire Martin which started off her passion for the truth seeking that this genre tires to explore.
She then moved to Berlin where she worked as a photo editor. Since then, Karin has been working as a freelancer and is currently working on her photography projects.
