Belarusian photographer Maksim Sarychau has received an award at the prestigious Polish photography competition Talent Roku 2026. His project “Blind Spot” (Martwy punkt) received a special distinction (wyróżnienie) in the ZINCALL category.
“Blind Spot” is a large-scale visual study that the artist worked on for more than five years: from 2015 to 2020, and again in 2024. The project spans Belarus, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
In the series, the author examines spaces where state power extends beyond the limits of law, ethics, and humanity. The project shows how modern technologies, including Big Data and artificial intelligence, are replacing the “manual” methods once used by security services, while the essence of repression remains unchanged — paralyzing society through violence.
“The logic of the system is impossible to predict: what was allowed yesterday may become a crime today. This uncertainty breeds fear and self-censorship, paralyzing a free society already at the level of thought itself,” the annotation to the project states.
“Blind Spot” becomes a place where the most extreme forms of pressure are revealed: from psychological violence to torture. “In the face of uncontrolled force, the shared fragility of human beings is laid bare. It is a dark mosaic of a carefully constructed system of suppression and fear.”
What Is Talent Roku?
Talent Roku is an annual competition organized by the Pix.house foundation together with the Voivodeship Public Library and the Center for Cultural Animation in Poznań. It is one of the most important platforms in Poland supporting authors creating socially engaged photography projects and photobooks (zines).
The distinction in the ZINCALL category includes the presentation of the artist’s works and a professional curatorial consultation.
The competition is held as part of the “PIX.LAB – Educational Photography Laboratory” project, implemented with the support of the city of Poznań and the Marshal’s Office of the Greater Poland Voivodeship.
Maksim Sarychau is a Belarusian visual artist and photojournalist. Since 2022, he has lived in Wrocław, Poland. He creates long-term visual projects at the intersection of photography, journalism, and art, exploring themes of violence in its various forms and scales — both by authoritarian regimes and within traditional society. The artist’s main interest lies in the political and human dimensions of collective memory and history.
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