Magda Kuca | Wet Collodion & Alternative Photography in London

About

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Magda Kuca (b. 1993, Skarzysko-Kamienna, Poland)

Magda Kuca is a Polish visual artist and photographer based in London. She explores the cyclical nature of rituals and traditions through portraiture and visual storytelling. Specialising in historical photographic techniques her work reflects the link between folklore, individual memory and shared ancestry. Her projects draw on personal experience, pagan traditions and Slavic culture in an ongoing investigation into the connection between humans and nature. Kuca’s work has been shown worldwide with exhibitions including Aperture Gallery (US) and Photo Vogue (Italy), receiving international recognition at the Vintage Photo Festival in Bydgoszcz (Poland) and Circulation(s) European Young Photography Festival, Paris (France), and collaborations ranging from cultural institutions like the British Museum and Kew Gardens in London to brands like Macallan whisky and Meta. Her work is held in private and public collections, including the Brent Museum & Archives (UK) and the Centre for Photographic Conservation (UK).

Magda Kuca holds an MA in Photography from University of Arts London (2018) and a BA in Photography from University of Arts in Poznan, Poland (2015).

“My approach is deeply rooted in craft-based photography: I use analogue processes, embracing old techniques that honour the alchemy and heritage of image-making. I hand-craft images with silver on glass plates-this slow, tactile process keeps me connected to the essence of subjects that I portray. I work with historic processes as my tools.

 







 
 

Exhibitions

SOLO

2026

• Blood of my Blood, Old Operating Theatre, London, UK

2022

• Family Tales, Vintage Photography Festival Grand Prix exhibition, Bydgoszcz, PL

2017

•  PARC Portraits and The Grandmothers, Photography and Archive       Research Centre, London, UK

2016

•  Grandmothers, Festival Circulations, Paris, FR

 

COLLECTIVE (SELECTED)

2026

• Rethinking Easter Europe at Photo London, UK

2024

• Royal Photographic Society 165th
International Photography Exhibition, Bristol, UK

2021

• Reframing History, Vogue Italia, Base Milano, IT

• VISAGE(S) D’EUROPE, Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques, Institut Polonais Paris, Paris, FR

2019

• LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2018 Finalists Exhibition, Aperture Gallery, New York, US

• Pracownia Otwartej Interpretacji sztuki UAP, BWA Pila, PL

2018

• Different Worlds 2018 competition finalists exhibition, Photon Gallery, Ljubljana, SL

• University of Arts London graduation show, Bargehouse, London, UK

• Islington Summer Salon 2018, Islington Arts Factory, London, UK

• Trzy Pracownie, BWA Jelenia Góra, PL

2017

•  Mirrors and Windows, University of Arts London- High Holborn, UK

• INTER-przestrzenie, Galeria u Jezuitów, Poznan, PL

2016

• Topór, (collective exhibition UAP students), Kolektyw 1a, Poznań,PL

2015

• Uwagi o sztuce:Wystawa Prac Pracowni Twórczej Interpretacji Sztuki, Galeria Profil, Poznań, PL

• What’s old is new again: Alternative Photographic Processes, 136 ½ Gallery, Manchester, US

•  Alternative Processes, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, US

•  Language of Memory, PhotoVisa Festival, Krasnodar, RU

• Naked Eye - stereophotography Fotoplastikon Arsenał Gallery ,Photographic Biennale 2015, Poznań, PL

• Wystawa Prac Pracowni Twórczej Interpretacji Sztuki, Galeria Sztuki Wozownia, Toruń, PL

2013

• Uniwersity of Arts Poznan studen exhibition  Fotofestiwal 2013 To coś, Galeria FF, Łódź, PL