I developed my love of photography shortly after purchasing a Rolleiflex camera in San Francisco while hitch hiking from Toronto to El Salvador, and back via New Orleans and Brooklyn.  I photographed architecture. landscape, portraits, pyramids and Mayan Indigenous Peoples.  I moved out west to B.C. for almost a decade, to ski as much as possible, specializing in the steep and deep. 

I suffered a serious traumatic brain injury and from bi-polar disorder, which hindered my ability to work. With only the money from a small  government disability, an Ontario Special Bursary, and funds from Vocational Rehab Services, I was able to attend University for a certificate in photography and desktop publishing. 

It was recommended to me that I find a theme to drive my work. I came across a Scientific American Magazine which featured the Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings of the Anasazi, a U.N.E.S.C.O. World Heritage Site. Inspired to photograph these sacred places I set off with my friend Dave Kero.  As we drove that summer an idea formed in my mind to photograph all 25 U.N.E.S.C.O. sites in Canada, I made a plan to start the next summer.  Not a simple task, for one man with a TBI, with a very limited budget. For much of the project I hitch hiked in the summer on a budget of $915 a month, my disability payment.  Living frugally on the road spending months in solitude getting to and spending time in some of Canada’s most beautiful places.  Sleeping outside in my tent or under the stars, all with the idea of creating something that I can give back, a record or snap shot of both place and the person I am. 

Throughout my travels I looked for places where the Creator spent a little extra time doing His Work so we could commune together and with Nature. When I get to take a photo, I am trying to accomplish something-something that matters, something I can share. 

Mark E.Polakiwsky 

Please contact me directly for projects or to inquire about purchasing my work.

mepolakiwsky@gmail.com