Michal Luczak
Łuczak is a photographer, visual artist, and curator working on the complex and exploitative relationship of humans with their immediate surroundings and the wider natural environment. He has recently focused on local issues with global relevance, particularly the consequences of coal mining and the economic utilisation of forests.
Michał Łuczak holds a BA in Iberian Studies from the University of Silesia in Katowice and a PhD from the Institute of Creative Photography at the Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic. He has held solo exhibitions at prominent venues including BWA Wrocław Główny Gallery (2023), MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (2018), and the Silesian Museum in Katowice (2019). As a member of the Sputnik Photos collective since 2010, Łuczak has participated in group exhibitions at FOTODOK in Utrecht (2014) and the Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw (2016–17). His work has earned him recognition such as a shortlist nomination for the Prix Pictet “Human” edition (2023), an honourable mention in the Magnum Expression Awards (2009), and awards including the MIO Photo Awards in Osaka (2010) and Polish Photographic Publication of the Year (2013). He received a grant from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in 2021. Łuczak has authored several photobooks, including Brutal (2012), Koło miejsca / Elementarz (2016, with Krzysztof Siwczyk), and 11.41 (2016, with Filip Springer). He co-leads Sputnik’s annual documentary photography workshop and teaches at the Faculty of Art, Pedagogical University of Kraków.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 EXTRACTION, BWA Wrocław Główny Gallery, Wrocław, PL
2020 Forest Works, Miejsce przy miejscu, Wrocław, PL
2019 Slope Degrees, Silesian Museum, Katowice, PL
2019 11.41. Artefacts, GWS, Opole, PL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 HUMAN, V&A Museum, London, UK
2023 HUMAN, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokio, Japan
2017 Lost Territories: The New End, Arsenał Gallery, Białystok, PL
2016 Lost Territories: SEDIMENT, Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL
2015 Lost Territories, Unseen Photo Fair, Amsterdam, NL
MONOGRAPHIC BOOKS
Brutal, selfpublishing, Katowice, 2012, ISBN 978-83-933361-7-3
Koło miesjca/Elementarz, (together with Krzysztof Siwczyki – text) publisher: Czytelnia Sztuki,
Gliwice, 2016, Poland, ISBN 978-83-89856-80-7
11.41, (together with Filip Springer, non-fiction writer), publisher: Filip Springer- fotografa, reportaż,
Warsaw,