Room 101

BACKGROUND Kozka's 'Room 101' series was exhibited at the Pingyao International Photography (PIP) festival in September 2013. The series utilises the techniques of portraiture, but challenges its conceptual framing by portraying personal fears, such as fear of failure and loneliness. It reflects similar conceptual challenges posed in relation to landscapes by Gregory Crewsdon, and owes much to film noir images. CONTRIBUTION In the series 'Room 101', Kozka draws parallels with the way writers describe a scene having 'constructing' it in their mind, by realising his own vision of a seedy hotel room which he builds entirely in a studio. This approach to construction borrows heavily from mid-century American cinema, as does the lighting. The images of characters in room 101 highlight their frailties and flaws exploring explores notions of identity and place. SIGNIFICANCE The PIP festival is China's largest and longest-running photography event and a feature of the international photo-art event calendar. More than 13,000 images were presented at the 2013 festival from 1,700 photographers hailing from 45 countries.