The most exciting names in contemporary Polish photography will be featured in Paris this November as part of a series of photography-related events, including Paris Photo, the leading international art fair dedicated to photography. From 11 to 15 November 2026, visitors to the Grand Palais will be able to discover presentations by galleries Jednostka, lokal_30, Monopol, Raster and Open Doors Gallery, as well as publishers BLOW UP PRESS, Sun Archive and Palm Studios. At the same time, international audiences will have the opportunity to see an exhibition by Rafał Milach at the delpire & co bookshop and a presentation featuring Diana Lelonek organised by the FUTURES platform. The programme of Polish events will also include the launch of the book Białowieża: The Living Forest of Lech & Simona, alongside numerous presentations by artists and publishers as part of Polycopies, Un Week-end à l’Est and PhotoSaintGermain. Together, these events will offer a broad and diverse overview of contemporary photography from Poland.
Paris Photo 2026: A Broad Perspective on Contemporary Polish Photography
Polish artists will once again make their presence felt at Paris Photo, the world’s largest art fair dedicated to fine art photography. Since 1997, the fair has brought together leading galleries, artists, collectors, curators and publishers from more than 30 countries in Paris. Every November, the Grand Palais becomes a showcase for the most significant developments in contemporary photography, as well as a meeting place for exchange between artists, institutions, collectors, publishers and industry professionals from around the world.
The 29th edition of Paris Photo will take place from 11 to 15 November 2026. Returning exhibitors will include galleries Jednostka, lokal_30, Monopol and Raster. Works by Polish artists will also be presented by Open Doors Gallery and Kominek Galerie. Photobooks will also play an important role in the Polish presence at the fair, with publications available at both gallery and publisher stands, including BLOW UP PRESS and the joint stand of Sun Archive and Palm Studios, which will host meetings with artists and authors whose publications have also been released by Bored Wolves, RUST Publishing and Outer Space Press.
Jednostka Gallery
At Paris Photo 2026, Jednostka Gallery will present works by Weronika Gęsicka, Michalina Kacperak and Rafał Milach. Their projects explore memory, the relationship between fact and fiction, and the social and political mechanisms that shape individual experience.
In Encyclopaedia (2023–2026), a project nominated for the 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, Weronika Gęsicka creates visual counterparts to fictional encyclopaedia entries, combining archival materials with images generated using artificial intelligence. Through this approach, the artist investigates the credibility of images and the mechanisms through which knowledge is constructed, blurring the boundaries between documentation, manipulation and fiction.
In her series Soft Spot (2021–2024), Michalina Kacperak builds an intimate narrative around the experience of growing up in a family affected by addiction. Combining documentary photography with staged imagery, she reconstructs fragments of family memory and examines relationships, codependency and ways of processing trauma.
In The Winners (2010–2013) and Third Spring (2024), Rafał Milach explores the relationships between the individual, society and systems of power. The first project exposes the mechanisms of Belarusian propaganda through portraits of individuals and institutions recognised and rewarded by the state, while the second addresses the experience of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and its consequences for everyday life.
During the fair, the artists will be present at the Jednostka stand, offering visitors an opportunity to meet them in person and discuss the projects on display. The gallery has also prepared a programme of photobook signing sessions with the artists: 12 November at 5:00 pm – Rafał Milach; 13 November at 5:00 pm – Michalina Kacperak; and 14 November at 4:00 pm – Weronika Gęsicka.
lokal_30
Galeria lokal_30 will present works by Monika Mamzeta and Jolanta Marcolla, two artists whose practices explore questions of female identity, self-portraiture and the cultural mechanisms that shape representation.
Monika Mamzeta will show three photographs from her Madonna series (2005), in which she reinterprets Christian iconography and challenges established notions of femininity. The gallery will also launch the artist’s first monograph, with Mamzeta signing copies on 14 November.
Jolanta Marcolla, a pioneer of photography and video art in Poland, will present photographs and original gelatin silver prints from 1973–1981, alongside a later print of Feminist (1980/2019). Her conceptual experiments with self-portraiture, the image and media conventions surrounding femininity employ irony and humour to examine how social norms, the media and visual language influence women’s self-perception. At the same time, the artist consistently emphasises her own agency in constructing her image.
Monopol
As part of the Voices section, whose theme this year is disappearance, Monopol Gallery will present works by Krzysztof Zarębski, one of the pioneers of performance art in Poland. The presentation will feature a selection of photographs from the 1980s, documenting and extending the artist’s practice at the intersection of photography, performance and body-based work.
Zarębski approaches disappearance both as a subject and as an artistic method. He is interested in the impermanence of images, the changing nature of matter and the process of erasure, as well as the moment when photography ceases to function as a record and becomes an integral element of the artistic action itself. In his works, the body, organic materials and everyday objects form ephemeral “contact zones” in which the boundaries between humans, nature and objects begin to dissolve.
The presentation at Paris Photo brings the photographic dimension of Zarębski’s interdisciplinary practice to the fore, showing photography not as a neutral document of an action, but as a medium in a constant state of transformation.
Raster
Raster Gallery will present Daughter, the latest photographic series by Aneta Grzeszykowska. In these works, the artist conceals her face behind a mask depicting herself at the age of fourteen. This gesture produces a peculiar reversal of roles and generational order: Grzeszykowska becomes, visually, the same age as her own daughter, while simultaneously appearing as a younger version of herself. Biological time, family relationships and established notions of age, femininity and motherhood are all brought into question.
Daughter continues Grzeszykowska’s characteristic radical exploration of identity, the body and representation. The series also offers a subversive continuation of her earlier Mama series, in which the artist challenged the visual and cultural clichés associated with motherhood. In Daughter, the theme of society’s cult of youth and its expectations of the female body becomes particularly prominent.
Paris Photo will also see the launch of Aneta Grzeszykowska’s latest book, dedicated to her artistic practice to date and published in collaboration with Sun Archive.
Blow Up Press
The BLOW UP PRESS stand will feature the publisher’s latest releases, including Binom by Nata Drachinska, published in collaboration with the LUMA Foundation and the Rencontres d’Arles Festival. Binom is a personal account of memory, family secrets and the artist’s attempt to understand her father, who worked as a cryptographer for the KGB for 25 years. The publication raises questions about the limits of memory and understanding, as well as how far we can truly know the people closest to us. Nata Drachinska will sign copies during two sessions: on 12 November at 5:30 pm and on 14 November at 6:30 pm. On 15 November, she will also present the book as part of the Book Talks programme, organised in collaboration with Printed Matter.
The titles on display will also include Homesick New York by Michael Ackerman, a personal exploration of memory, longing and belonging, created on the occasion of the photographer’s return to a city with which he has shared a special bond for many years.
Publications by Polish artists will also form an important part of the BLOW UP PRESS presentation. The stand will feature books by Hubert Humka, Marta Zgierska and Mateusz Sarełło, Weronika Gęsicka, Małgorzata Stankiewicz, Natalia Wiernik and Nastasia Leliuk, Paweł Żak, Igor Pisuk, Karolina Spolniewski and Tomek Tomaszewski. For the sixth time, the publisher will also take part in Polycopies, the international festival dedicated to independent photobooks and fanzines, held in Paris alongside Paris Photo.
SUN ARCHIVE AND PALM STUDIOS
Sun Archive, a publishing house operating within the Zamek Centre for Creative Attitudes in Wrocław, is celebrating its second anniversary this year. At a joint stand with London-based Palm Studios, it will present publications by, among others, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Lola Paprocka, Łukasz Rusznica, Michał Łuczak, Monika Orpik and Paweł Starzec. Paris Photo will host the launch of two new titles: Mama and Daughter by Aneta Grzeszykowska and Places of Public Utility by Paweł Starzec.
Mama and Daughter is a publication in which Aneta Grzeszykowska constructs a narrative through two photographic series. Daughter continues her radical, existential exploration of identity, the representation of the female body and family relationships: Grzeszykowska appears wearing a mask depicting her own face at the age of fourteen. Mama challenges and transcends the visual and cultural stereotypes associated with motherhood.
Paweł Starzec’s Places of Public Utility brings together more than a decade of documenting sites connected with war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Juxtaposing photographs of seemingly ordinary spaces with excerpts from court documents, the artist examines how traces of violence disappear from the landscape and how memories of the past become subject to political manipulation. The book received support through the 2025 Hasselblad Foundation Photo Book Grant.
Another key title presented by Sun Archive will be Extraction by Michał Łuczak, a new publication being showcased at a series of photography events throughout 2026. The artist documents Upper Silesia, a region marked by decades of coal mining, revealing the consequences of this exploitation for its landscape, architecture, environment and residents. The book also offers a reflection on the price of progress and the legacy of an industrial past whose effects persist long after the mines have closed. The publication has been shortlisted for the Paper Photo Award 2026 exhibition.
The joint stand will also feature independent publishers RUST Publishing, Bored Wolves and Outer Space Press. The programme will include meetings and book signings with their authors. Antonina Gugała will present Running to the Sun, published by Bored Wolves, an autobiographical account of motherhood, isolation and the challenge of reconciling artistic practice with the experience of caregiving. The publication received an honourable mention in the Photographic Publication of the Year competition and was shortlisted for the Rencontres d’Arles Book Award.
Open Doors Gallery
The artistic duo Magda Wysocka and Claudio Pogo will present their new series Artefacts at Paris Photo as part of a solo presentation organised by Open Doors Gallery in the Emergence section. The series of works on canvas explores the concept of the artefact and its two distinct meanings.
On the one hand, an artefact is a human-made object carrying a particular history and cultural significance. In photography, however, the same term refers to an unintended distortion, error or trace appearing within an image. Wysocka and Pogo draw on this ambiguity to create works exploring memory, the materiality of images and their imperfections. During the fair, the duo will also present and sign their latest book, 23. The book signing will take place on 13 November at 2:00 pm at the Sun Archive stand, and the publication will also be available at the Open Doors Gallery stand.
Kominek galerie
Berlin-based Kominek Galerie returns to Paris Photo 2026 with a group presentation showcasing a variety of approaches to contemporary photography. Its stand at the Grand Palais will feature works by Viviane Sassen, Daisuke Yokota, Kalev Erickson, Avery Norman, Mike Brodie and Polish artist Olga Sokal.
Bringing these artists together highlights the international character of the gallery’s programme and its interest in diverse strategies of working with images. Artists of Ukrainian origin also occupy an important place in its programme, represented by Ruslan Hrushchak, Kristina Podobed and Yelena Yemchuk.
The stand’s programme will be complemented by artist talks and book presentations. On 12 November at 6:00 pm, Filip Piotrowicz will sign copies of his publication We Just Stayed. An hour later, the gallery will host a meeting with artists involved in Editions I, a group exhibition in Berlin, including Olga Sokal and Ada Zielińska. The discussion will offer an opportunity to learn more about their artistic practices and the ideas behind the exhibition.
Works by Rafał Milach and Diana Lelonek in Exhibitions at Parisian Galleries
“THE ECOLOGY OF MOVEMENT” FEATURING DIANA LELONEK
From 9 to 15 November 2026, the FUTURES platform will present the exhibition The Ecology of Movement, featuring Polish artist Diana Lelonek.
Curated by Julia Rajacic, the exhibition will bring together works by five photographers: Alexandra Baumgartner, Benedetta Casagrande, Diana Lelonek, Santiago Martinez Benedetti and Laure Winants. What connects them is their search for new ways of working with images in response to the ecological crisis and the challenges of the Anthropocene.
The exhibition draws attention to a paradox inherent in photography: while the medium can raise awareness of the environmental crisis, it is itself entangled in processes of production and resource exploitation. The Ecology of Movement proposes an approach to the image not as a neutral record, but as part of the network of relationships connecting humans, the environment and the more-than-human world.
Diana Lelonek’s practice addresses the ecological crisis and its emotional consequences. The exhibition will feature works from her Solarstalgia series: cyanotypes on fabric based on solargraphy images created over a month in the Alps, as well as developed anthotypes made using plant pigments collected in Văcărești Nature Park in Bucharest, a wild ecosystem that has regenerated on land abandoned by humans.
RAFAŁ MILACH’S “LAST RESORT” – AN EXHIBITION AT THE PARIS BOOKSHOP DELPIRE & CO
On 5 November 2026, the Paris-based bookshop and exhibition space delpire & co will open Last Resort, an exhibition by Rafał Milach exploring different forms of protest and civic resistance. The event is part of the Un Week-end à l’Est and PhotoSaintGermain festivals. A meeting with the artist will also take place at the bookshop on 21 November.
In his work, Milach examines the tensions between the individual, society and structures of power, documenting both mass demonstrations and less visible forms of dissent. Last Resort raises questions about the role of photography and the photobook as tools of resistance, and about how personal experience can intersect with experiences of systemic violence and control.
Rafał Milach is a photographer, visual artist and lecturer, a member of Magnum Photos and co-founder of the Public Protest Archive (Archiwum Protestów Publicznych) and the Sputnik Photos collective. His practice consistently addresses mechanisms of power, social control and the political dimension of images.
Photographic Paris: Where Else to Discover Works by Polish Artists
Polish photography will also feature at other venues across Paris’s photography scene. RUST Publishing will take part in Polycopies, presenting its latest publications. The stand’s programme will include book launches, meetings and signing sessions with Tomasz Kawecki (FLUX), Daria Izworska (God’s Children), Dominik Wojciechowski (Svijet), Jakub Szachnowski (The Proof), Łukasz Zając (Pidło) and Konrad Koźmiński (With Ghosts and Souls).
RUST Publishing’s presence in Paris will extend beyond the fair itself. As part of PhotoSaintGermain, Librairie Polonaise will host an exhibition of photographs by Tomasz Kawecki and Jakub Szachnowski, accompanied by an artist residency, a presentation of the publisher’s publications, artist talks and book launches. At Paris Photo, meanwhile, the Sun Archive stand will host the international launch of Jakub Szachnowski’s The Proof, accompanied by a meeting with the author. The book develops a fictional investigation centred on Mount Wdżar. Combining photographs, maps, notes and research materials, the artist explores the boundary between fact and fiction and the ways in which an image can come to function as evidence. Artists associated with the publisher will also take part in the programme of Un Week-end à l’Est, whose 2026 edition is dedicated to the city of Kraków.
French publisher Éditions Païen will also be present at Polycopies, where it will showcase its new publication Białowieża: The Living Forest of Lech & Simona. Conceived as an immersive publishing object, the book offers an insight into the extraordinary world of Simona Kossak and Lech Wilczek and their life in the Białowieża Forest. It features around one hundred photographs selected from an archive of more than five thousand images, including previously unpublished material that is only now being digitised.
The book takes the form of an intimate, dreamlike narrative shaped by the changing seasons. Its five chapters lead readers from Simona Kossak’s youth and her discovery of the forest, through everyday life at Dziedzinka and her relationships with animals, to the forest’s more mysterious nocturnal dimension and the later, more contemplative photographs by Kossak and Wilczek. Each chapter opens with a quotation from Simona Kossak’s writings, allowing the photographs to intertwine with her own way of telling stories about the natural world.
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