By Ali Ikram
If you hate your job spare a thought for the coffin maker, whose work has gone largely ignored by the living – until now.
Coffin maker Zbigniew Lindner is trying to reinvent the popular image of his product.
“We want to prove one thing,” he says, “that a coffin is not a religious symbol. A coffin very bluntly speaking is a container.”
And so for four years this Polish coffin maker has been bringing new life to his dying business by producing a racy calendar.
The calendar showcases two things: vast and impressive Polish chests, and of course the coffins.
“We are advertising a product, [a] certain product of a certain industry,” says Mr Lindner. “The matter went out of its original boundaries and that's good. Every calendar is a voice in a discussion and I think it's a very important voice.”
Though one very important voice, the Catholic Church, has denounced the calendar for blurring the line between sex and death.
But Ola Wanserska, who has appeared in two editions, including posing this time round on a casket drenched in melted chocolate, doesn't know what the fuss is about.
“I know the church is against this. I even talked to one priest,” she says. “Some people don't understand how I could have agreed to take part in something like this but for me this photo session was not different to any other besides the fact that there is a coffin.”
Two copies of the calendar come with every coffin sold, as does a coffin shaped key ring.
And whatever you think of the idea, the publicity is to die for.
3 News