Polish Photography at Photo London 2026: Strong Representation of Artists from the Region

Polish galleries, artists, and publishers will make a strong showing at this year’s edition of one of Europe’s most important photography fairs. Alongside classics such as Zofia Rydet and Zygmunt Rytka, representatives of younger generations will also appear – including Weronika Gęsicka, Michał Łuczak, Michalina Kacperak, the collective Rethinking Eastern Europe, and creators of the most interesting Polish photography books. 

The eleventh edition of the Photo London fair (14–17 May 2026, Olympia, London) will gather the most important galleries from Europe, America, and Asia, including The Photographers’ Gallery and Goodman Gallery. Among them will also be Galeria Monopol, Raster, and JEDNOSTKA, the collective Rethinking Eastern Europe, and the publisher Sun Archive – representing the Central and Eastern European scene as an important, mature voice in the international art world. 

The participation of artists, galleries, and publishers from the region at Photo London 2026 is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Polish Institute in London. 

Polish photography is currently at a unique moment. We are seeing growing interest both in the classics and in the young scene. We are consciously using this time to build a lasting presence of Polish photography in the international art circulation, including through participation in Photo London 2026, says Olga Wysocka, Director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. 

Zofia Rydet: An Archive of a Vanishing World 

One of the strongest programme highlights will be the presentation of Zofia Rydet’s work by Raster Gallery. Her Sociological Record – carried out from the late 1970s – is a monumental documentary project comprising thousands of portraits of Polish villagers photographed inside their homes. 

It is not only a record of everyday life but also a visual archive of a world at the end of communism – with all its material details, the tension between privacy and official narrative, and a clear sense of time. The series presented at the fair remains one of the most important documentary projects in European photography history, recently shown at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Jeu de Paume in Paris, Photographer’s Gallery in London, and the Gwangju Biennale. 

Zygmunt Rytka: Image, Propaganda, and Experiment 

In the section dedicated to Central and Eastern Europe, Galeria Monopol will present works by Zygmunt Rytka (1947–2018) – one of the most important Polish artists associated with the neo-avant-garde of the 1970s and the independent scene of the 1980s. 

Photo London will showcase works from several key series. In Bluff, the artist created self-portraits resembling film stills, portraying himself as a karateka in a golden outfit, ironically commenting on propaganda mechanisms and image-making during the PRL era. In the series Time Slots, he photographed moments of water splashing, attempting to capture fleeting moments and the relationship between reality and its record. 

In his works, Rytka explored how images function in the media, how social imaginaries are created, and the extent to which photography can be objective. Today, his work is returning to international circulation – thanks in part to the publication of a comprehensive monograph, Stones, Ants, and Television, which will also be presented at the fair. 

The works of Zofia Rydet and Zygmunt Rytka remind us that the history of Central and Eastern European photography is not merely a footnote to the Western canon but an autonomous narrative. Today, Polish artists’ works are increasingly taking their rightful place in the international history of photography, says Anna Tryc-Bromley, Director of the Polish Institute in London. 

Weronika Gęsicka: Images Infused with Fiction

In the fair’s most prestigious section – Sources – Galeria JEDNOSTKA will present a solo exhibition by Weronika Gęsicka. This is a comprehensive showcase of her most important series: Traces, Cliffhanger, and Encyclopaedia. 

Traces consists of collages created from American stock photographs from the 1950s and 60s – family scenes, vacation souvenirs, everyday life – all suspended between truth and fiction. Gęsicka modifies these images in various ways, placing them in a new context: memories of people and situations are transformed and gradually fade. 

Cliffhanger attempts to capture the tensions and fears we confront when engaging with the outside world. Idyllic images from stock photos begin to fracture: houses turn into enclosed structures, gestures lose innocence, and reality seems on the verge of collapse. 

Encyclopaedia is composed of hundreds of false entries found in encyclopedias and dictionaries from various periods, illustrated by Gęsicka with collages of stock photography and digitally generated images. Here, the real functions on equal footing with the imagined. The book dedicated to the project, published in collaboration with BLOW UP PRESS, was nominated for the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, with results to be announced on 14 May. The series Encyclopaedia can be seen not only at Photo London but also at The Photographers’ Gallery in London. 

Michalina Kacperak: Intimacy and New Publishing Strategies

Michalina Kacperak will present her book Soft Spot – representing the youngest generation of artists. Her practice belongs to intimate, personal photography, where the image functions as a tool for storytelling about the body, emotions, closeness, as well as challenging relationships and family trauma. The book format plays a key role, becoming not only a documentation of the project but also an independent artistic object. 

Rethinking Eastern Europe: A Polyphonic Story of the Region 

The Rethinking Eastern Europe project, initiated by Zula Rabikowska, moves away from simple definitions of the region and proposes an approach based on experience – memory, migration, and family relationships. Participants include Alexandra Joanna Baker,Magda Kuca, Paulina Korobkiewicz, and Marcelina Amelia. 

As curator Zula Rabikowska emphasizes: During ongoing socio-political transformations, it is vital to create space for artists operating beyond real and imagined borders. Rethinking Eastern Europe challenges the simplified perception of the region as a homogeneous whole, highlighting its complexity and diversity while enabling new, autonomous narratives. 

Many artists explore inheritance and intergenerational histories – often through female experience and family memory. Others turn to archives, historical techniques, or landscape documentation, showing the region as a space of continuous change – between past and present, between place of origin and life in the diaspora. The presentation forms a polyphonic narrative of Central and Eastern Europe: complex, ambiguous, and constructed from individual stories that challenge its simplified external image. 

Sun Archive and Friends: The Most Interesting Polish Photobooks 

The Polish publishing scene will also have a strong presence at Photo London. The Sun Archive and Friends booth will bring together independent publishers and artists for whom the photobook is a primary medium – not an exhibition accessory, but an equal form. 

This includes Sun Archive, RUST Publishing, Pix.House, Bored Wolves, Outer Space Press, and BLOW UP PRESS – communities that combine photography with design, archives, and editorial experimentation. Their publications often appear in short editions, balancing between art book and object, circulating in galleries, festivals, and private collections. 

Among the projects will be Michał Łuczak’s Extraction, a visual story of Upper Silesia, where landscape, architecture, and daily life bear the marks of decades of coal mining. Experimental publications from RUST Publishing and projects by Outer Space Press will also appear, using found images, archives, and printing errors as deliberate artistic strategies. 

The Most Important Photography Fair in the UK 

Photo London is the UK’s premier international photography fair, bringing together renowned artists, galleries, and curators from around the world, as well as a new generation of creators. The eleventh edition will take place 14–17 May 2026 (VIP Preview: 13 May) and will be held for the first time at London’s Olympia, opening a new chapter in the fair’s history in the heart of Kensington. Following the tenth anniversary edition, this move marks the start of a new era – with greater scale, a broader program, and an even stronger presence of international galleries and artists. 

More information and the full program can be found at https://photolondon.org/ 

Programme of Polish Presence at Photo London 2026 

Galeria JEDNOSTKA Booth 
14 May, Thursday 

• 18:00 – English premiere of the book Return. From the Archive of Paweł Pierściński by Katarzyna Sagatowska  

15 May, Friday 

• 17:00 – Meeting with Weronika Gęsicka (Encyclopaedia)  
• 18:00 – Book premiere: Soft Spot by Michalina Kacperak (IAM co-publisher)  

Sun Archive and Friends Booth 

14 May, Thursday 

• 14:00 – Meeting with Łukasz Rusznica  
• 15:00 – Meeting with Monika Orpik  

15 May, Friday 

• 16:00 – Meeting with Ela Polkowska  
• 17:00 – Meeting with Magdalena Wysocka & Claudio Pogo  
• 18:00 – Meeting with Jakub Szachnowski  

16 May, Saturday 

• 14:00 – Meeting with Weronika Gęsicka (Encyclopaedia) in collaboration with Galeria JEDNOSTKA and BLOW UP PRESS  
• 15:00 – Meeting with Michalina Kacperak (Soft Spot) in collaboration with Galeria JEDNOSTKA  
• 16:00 – Meeting with Michał Łuczak  
• 17:00 – Meeting with Studio Prokopiou  

17 May, Sunday 

• 15:00 – Meeting with Daria Izworska   

Rethinking Eastern Europe Booth 

14 May, Thursday 

• 12:00–14:00 – Meeting with Magda Kuca, Large Format Portrait Studio  
• 15:30–16:00 – Meeting with Paulina Korobkiewicz (Disco Polo, Homeland)  
• 16:00–16:30 – Meeting with Marcelina Amelia (Mamalia)  
• 18:30–19:00 – Meeting with Magda Kuca (Tales)  
• 19:00–19:30 – Meeting with Zula Rabikowska (Nothing but a Curtain)  

15 May, Friday 

• 12:00–12:30 – Ksenia Kazintseva – Embroidery Workshop  
• 13:00–13:15 – Ksenia Kazintseva – Poetry Performance  

16 May, Saturday 

• 11:00–12:00 – Artist Talk: Eastern European Photography   

Photo London 2026 Programme 

16 May, Saturday 

• 17:15–18:15 – Collecting Cultures: Central and Eastern Europe  
  Panelists: Katarzyna Sagatowska, Łukasz Gorczyca, Tomas Opitz
  Moderator: Prof. Amanda Hopkinson 

Media Contact: 

Klaudia Gniady 
e-mail: [email protected] 
phone: +48 609 092 949

The Adam Mickiewicz Institute (IAM) brings Polish culture to people around the world. Being a state institution, it creates lasting interest in Polish culture and art through strengthening the presence of Polish artists on the global stage. It initiates innovative projects, supports international cooperation and cultural exchange. It promotes the work of both established and promising artists, showing the diversity and richness of our culture. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is also responsible for the Culture.pl website, a comprehensive source of knowledge about Polish culture. More information: https://iam.pl/en.