Visiting Pion Studio: Vintage Objects, Mixed Styles, And Our Smoked Oak
Sensitive aesthetes, focused on details, with elements of romanticism filling their works. Inspired by their travels, privately and professionally, they love to create and tell stories. Basia and Przemysław are a creative duo of photographers who form the PION studio. We are pleased to work with them on the photoshoots of our fronts from the very beginning.
Today we visit the newly opened Pion Studio atelier in a townhouse in Warsaw. In this spectacular space, you can find a variety of modern Polish brands accompanied by vintage furniture and objects. Our Smoked Oak fronts have settled in the kitchen, Basia’s favourite room. Their honey clearances elegantly contrast with the warm beige of the walls and harmoniously correspond with the natural stone countertop, consistently complementing the subdued style of the space.
In an interview with us, Basia and Przemysław told us what they had in mind when designing their studio and what is the common denominator of the Polish brands that have been used to populate it.
If yes, was the difference between arranging your studio and your home space?
Yes, it was very different. Our apartment has completely different functions and while spending time there, a sense of security and peace was essential for us. That’s why it is kept in one colour tone, warm beige. We have quite a lot of wood, carpets, curtains. The flat cut us off from stimuli, calms us down. Arranging studio was a completely different story. Here we wanted an interior, which would stimulate us, and encourage us to be creative. Hence we have plenty of red-coloured accessories and sort of a hotchpotch of styles. Modern furniture combined with molding, contrasting colours, and a sort of austerity, give this place an air of energy unalike in our home, and that was what we wanted.
What was your starting point, the most important one in thinking about the studio?
Most of all, it is important for us to have a studio, i.e. a separate place which allows you to work outside the home. Over the years, we have developed our own work system. Each of us has slightly different needs and rituals, so we were looking for space where we could have two apartments to work. The smaller room is my office (Basia). I chose this solution because I like to hide myself with the podcast and cut off the main space when editing photos. I also take naps, so I needed a room like this. Przemysław, on the other hand, finds himself better in a larger space and therefore works at a large table in the center of our studio.
What were your guidelines when choosing items and furniture?
We were guided by our needs, which we already know well after many years. The furniture must first of all be practical and well-designed, while in the accessories we have given ourselves more freedom. We knew we needed a large table in the main space, comfortable chairs, plenty of storage space. Due to the fact that we cooperate with Polish brands creating the design, we wanted to have as many of them as possible. That is why our space is 80% Polish design, supplemented mainly with vintage accessories and our photographs.
You also work with many Polish brands on a daily basis, can you tell us what energy emanates from them? Is there any visible, common denominator?
We are grateful and glad that in our work can meet so many talented artists. It is extremely inspiring. You infect us with creative energy, and exactly this is a common denominator for the brands we work with. Each session is a large injection of stimuli. I think we exchange them. We are amazed that in the Polish artists we work with, there is this extraordinary ambition and incredible professionalism in the approach to brand and visual language creation. How this market has developed over the last 10 years in Poland, has been encouraging and we are proud to be a part of it.
What do you value your new studio for?
We are glad that we have the possibility to have a studio in general, and that we can afford it. This is extremely valuable.
Being here, we feel how much we have achieved, how much we have developed over the years. We are grateful to ourselves for our diligence.
Which place and why do you like the most about it?
Basia: I mostly like the kitchen which I dreamed of, definitely. It is a chilly, quiet room, overlooking the patio and chestnut tree. As soon as I entered this space, I immediately had in mind what it would look like. I knew that I had to find a black round table, and I managed to get one at an olx. We also wanted a kitchen with Frøpt fronts for a long time, and a stone worktop – and it is! Exactly what we wanted.
Przemysław: I appreciate our equipment room. We store there our cameras, disks, and folders with negatives as well as all the things that should be out of sight.
