He tipped the Makerere students to exploit the good side of internet noting that there is so much contemporary students can find by just sitting behind a computer. But he also cautioned them to be patient if they want to succeed.
“You have to be prepared for disappointments… Of the ten times you will try to sell your work, nine out of the ten times you will be disappointed but never be disappointed,” he said.
Some of Krzyzanowski’s illustrious photographic projects were showcased including the ‘Henry Project’—a photo project that has chronicled the life and times of a Dutch woman from when she started working at the age of 16 in 1977, got married in 1983, had children, divorced, remarried, got children, with some dying along the way. Henry’s life in pictures is punctuated with love, heart break, happiness, sadness, joy and misfortune.
She is 52 today, lives with her unusually large family, with an alcoholic husband, two of his children are autistic and she recently had her hip replaced yet Krzyzanowski continues to chronicle her life’s journey through photography. He says Henry has since become one of the most photographed ordinary women around the world.
Krzyzanowski’s other important projects include the ‘World of Little Heroes’—a comparative project where he spent two months following the lives of two 12 year old handicapped girls living in Canada and Bangladesh—one living in the first world and the other in a third world country— two children with the same life situation yet their lives could never be the same because of what the opportunities in their respective worlds present.
The ‘most beautiful people in the world’ is another of his projects which he worked on between 2004-2010. He used the project to research on the concept of beauty. In this project one can see various people describe themselves as being beautiful justifying their answers with all sorts of reasons.
This particular project took him to 20 countries including Iran, USA, Brazil, France, Mexico, Poland, Spain and China.