Inspired by political campaign posters from the Polish 2023 parliamentary elections, The Powers That Be photobook contemplates the links between electioneering and political outcomes. Whilst travelling around Poland researching coal mining Alan Gignoux and Chloe Juno were struck by the faces of politicians beaming at them from colourful political banners wherever they went. They used some Fuji Instax Wide Film left over from another trip to document the banners, zooming in on the features of these potential changemakers. The resulting image series investigates the peculiar visual language of political advertising. In The Powers That Be, these are set against photographs documenting Polish coal mines, whose future would be determined by the results of the election. Throughout The Powers That Be photobook, the Instax banner images are presented full bleed to dramatize close-ups of isolated features from the politicians’ faces, such as eyes and lips, and to emphasize the fleshiness of the oversized portraits. These are interspersed with the coal mine images, photographed by Gignoux using a 35mm digital camera. On each of the coal mine photographs the designer has superimposed a cut-out of one of the Instax political banner images with the white border intact, creating jarring juxtapositions. At the end of the book, tucked into a glassine pocket, there is a ‘fortune teller’ game printed with politicians’ features. Play the game and you will be ‘rewarded’ with different political outcomes.
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