Borderlands is a documentary photography project Tori Ferenc began in early 2024, focusing on the changing and often overlooked edges of Poland. Through this work, Tori explores how interconnected narratives of ecology, humanitarianism, society, and history come together to shape the border – not just as a physical line, but as a place filled with layered experiences and meanings.

Poland’s borders have shifted repeatedly over centuries, drawn and redrawn through partitions, wars, and political upheavals. This long and turbulent history of movement and redefinition has left deep marks on the land and its people. The borderlands are places where the past is never far away, where identity and belonging are constantly being questioned, reshaped, and lived in different ways.

Tori travelled from east to west, north to south, witnessing people’s stories along the way. In the southeastern highlands, she spent time with a family living off the grid, documenting their self-sufficiency and resilience. On the Baltic coast, Tori photographed a baptism by the sea, a ritual where faith and nature meet at the threshold of land and water. At the tripoint border between Poland, Germany and Czechia, she documented a mining town of Bogatynia, a place fueled by the rhythm of industry, while living in the long shadow of its own past.

Together, these fragments form a nuanced portrait of the Polish borderlands: a geography in constant motion, where human stories echo the shifting lines of maps and places in between.

Borderlands is exhibited at the Leica Gallery in London until January 8th 2026.