An industry gala is the hardest type of event to redo. An award presentation lasts a few seconds, the winner leaves the stage, and that moment is gone. You cannot reshoot material from an evening like this the next day.
In December 2022 I photographed the Aulery 2022 gala at Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw’s Koneser district. Aulery are awards given by the Aula Polska community, presented since 2009 to the most interesting Polish startups. In this edition, 15 finalists were selected from 236 entries. The event was broadcast live and covered by trade media.
What happened
The event had several layers: guest registration, a conference part with talks and a fireside chat with Michał Sadowski of Brand24, an evening gala with the award presentation, and networking in the industrial corridors of Koneser.
Each of these layers produces different material. The conference is reportage work by the stage and screens. The gala is moments with no retake: a name read from a card, the trophy, the room’s reaction. Networking is conversations, gestures and genuine laughter that no one poses for the camera.
There was also a seasonal touch: the campus in December looks like a film set. A Santa hat on an industrial lamp, Christmas stockings above the brick corridor. Details like these say more about the event than another shot of the stage, and they work well in social media coverage.
What I pay attention to at a gala
The room’s reactions matter as much as the stage. I photograph more broadly than just the stage and a few smiles for the camera: the audience at the moment results are announced, winners with their awards in the corridors afterwards, conversations after the official part.
The organiser’s and partners’ branding has to be in the material. The guest path from registration, space signage, slogans on the walls – the organiser has to account for visibility, so I take these shots before anyone asks for them.
The order of the evening sets my work plan. Before the gala I have time for details and space, during it I focus on the stage, afterwards on people. This way none of the three types of material is produced at the expense of the others.
Outcome
The organiser received material covering the entire course of the event: from registration to networking. The collaboration with Aula Polska has continued since 2022 to this day – I photograph the community’s subsequent events.
