PAN Photo Of The Week: ‘Blackpool Boy in a Mask’ by Photojournalist Wiktor Dabkowski

PAN friend and reader photojournalist Wiktor Dabkowski who can usually be found photographing politicians and personalities for news outlets has been taking a little break in the UK touring the country and recording a short photo series of his travels on Instagram.

We spotted this cracking shot titled ‘Blackpool Boy in a Mask’ and wanted to know more:
PAN: Wiktor, we have been following your UK photo series, this image is just brilliant, tell us how it came about?
WD: “I drove to Blackpool partly out of curiosity, having seen it in books and photo series over the years. I expected crowds, beachgoers, noise — but it was completely deserted. Bad weather, probably. I walked along an empty promenade, saw police putting a quarrelling couple into their car, watched gulls fighting over leftover chips. Took a ride on the Ferris wheel — no queue, just a few people scattered around. Had fish and chips, stretched my legs a bit after a long drive from Brussels, still with hours to go before reaching my stopover in Stratford-upon-Avon.

I was just heading back to the car when I saw the boy. Alone, standing in the middle of the empty street, wearing that mask. He looked surprised that someone was taking a photo — maybe surprised anyone was taking photos at all. Nothing was happening. Just him. The whole thing felt surreal.”

Wiktor will be uploading more images from his UK visit on his Instagram feed over the next few days.