Emilia Martin (born 1991) is a Polish photographer and artist currently based in the Hague, the Netherlands, where she studies at the Photography & Society Masters Programme at the KABK, the Royal Academy of the Art.

Her interests revolve around identity, ownership and belonging. She believes that photography can serve as a perfect tool to gain a better insight, form relationships and exercise empathy.
She is one of the creators behind the Photography & Society, the podcast, which explores the culture behind the medium of photography, its ethics, dangers and entanglement within a bigger political universe.

She holds diplomas in linguistic studies and British and American literature, which serves as a strong influence in her artistic practice. Emilia spent several years working as an air stewardess for Emirates Airlines, travelling around the World while based in Dubai, UAE, an experience that has shaken her view of the world and left her with many questions. Emilia chooses to work on long term personal projects, where she regards trust, understanding and curiosity to be the key factors.

About Far from here, where darkness lies – words by Emilia Martin:

(…) to reclaim perspective in a universe Where science and wisdom are no longer valued to escape talking heads
who pontificate ceaselessly
on screens large and small,
generating more heat than enlightenment While I remain bewildered in darkness.

“darkness and light” Marianne Gambaro

In the Western societies, darkness is perceived as a threat.

It is associated with blindness, fear, mystery, something evil, something out of control.

These negative connotations create fundaments for the reality where the levels of light pollution rise fastest in the history of the Earth, simultaneously with the overly rationalised, dominating, patriarchal ways of thinking.

I observe a dangerous tendency to value dry facts over instincts, dominance over sensitivity. With the rising levels of light pollution melatonin in blood gets dangerously low, species crucial for the ecosystem die out and starry nights are no longer present in our lives. We’re losing the darkness, and I believe that with darkness we’re losing something very primal and important: our instincts and feelings.

My first experience of starry nights brings the feelings of nostalgia and childhood memories. “Far from here, where darkness lies” is an investigation of rising light pollution, disappearing starry nights, but also my personal journey of lookings for things that seem lost. It’s a story of fears to be tamed, of a primal desire to get closer to something universal, bigger than myself, and hope that the narrative can be turned around.