Rafał Siderski, phd.
(born 1984) in Białystok. A visual artist working primarily in photography.
He completed his doctoral studies at the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava.
He currently works as an assistant professor at the Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa. He is co-author of the Albom.pl initiative, which deals with the digitization and work with photographic archives. In 2019, he published the book „Wyjedź Zostań” (Leave, Stay), and in 2024, his book „Tributaries, Vibrations, Afterimages, and Songs on the Riverbanks was released. He has held numerous exhibitions in Poland and abroad (Italy, Germany, Japan, France). In his free time, he climbs, travels, or is somewhere.
Exhibitions:
2025 – Tributaries, Afterimages, Jednostka Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2024 – Tributaries, Vibrations, Afterimages and Songs on the Riverbanks, Poprzeczna Gallery, Miechów, Poland
2024 – Paradise to lost, in Visualising Climate Crisis, group exhibition, Interphoto Fotofestival, Białystok, Poland
2024 – Tributaries, Vibrations, Afterimages, exhibition during Meanings Festival, curator: Marta Czyz, Wołomin, Poland
2024 – Home. Rooting and uprooting, group exhibition, IMO Gallery, Nowy Sącz, Poland
2024 – Poets of Today – Voices of Tomorrow, multimedia show based on poetry of most important polish poets, Gliwice;
2023 – Visualising Climate Crisis, Group exhibition about climate crisis in V4 countries, Bratislava, Slovakia
2022 – Flow(s), exhibition with Małgorzata Lebda, Galeria im. Sleńdziński, Bialystok, Poland;
2022 – State of Emergency, group exhibition, book Leave Stay exhibited as part of
presentation of Polish photo books, Berlin, Germany;
2021 – Leave Stay, individual exhibition, Rybnik Photo Festival, Rybnik, Poland;
2019 – Leave Stay, individual exhibition, Galeria im. Sledziński in Białystok, Poland;
2015 – 25 years of the Institute of Creative Photography, Umeni House, Opava, Czech Republic;
2014 – Alboom.pl, Month of Photography in Minsk, Belarus;
2012 – Live event – group exhibition, 2piR Gallery, Poznań;
2011 – Street photography Now!!! – group exhibition, Gallery of the Museum of Printing Warszawski, Warsaw;
2011 – Home Town – solo exhibition, Cafe Amadeus, Olomouc, Czech Republic;
2011 – Frame010 – post-competition exhibition, Leica Gallery Prague, Czech Republic;
2010 – Wine Photo 2010 – post-competition exhibition – Mogiliano Veneto, Italy;
2010 – Twenty years of the Institute of Creative Photography – group exhibition, Reduta Theatre, Brno, Czech Republic;
2010 – MioPhotoAward – post-competition exhibition, Mio Museum, Osaka, Japan;
2009 – Home Town – solo exhibition, Kaunas, Lithuania;
2009 – White, Red and Other Colors – group exhibition, Photo Gallery in Kaunas, Lithuania;
2008 – 7 Photographs – individual exhibition – Stotrzynaście Gallery, Bialystok, Poland;
2008 – Home Town – individual exhibition – BlackBook Gallery, Gliwice;
2007 – Folk Art Now – group exhibition, Bremen, Germany;
2007 – Czech Start – group exhibition – Fotobild Gallery, Berlin, Germany;
2004 – Białystok – one day – group exhibition, Arsenał Gallery, Białystok.
Contests:
2022 – distinction in the Photographic Publication of the Year 2021 competition for the model of the book „I can’t see your face”;
2021 – distinction in the Photographic Publication of the Year 2020 competition for the book „Leave Stay”;
2020 – Culture online, scholarship of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage national,;
2015 – Grand Press Photo – Finalist
2015 – BZWBK Press Foto – 2nd place in the nature category, single photos;
2013 – Competition for the design of a photographic book named after Wilhelm von Blandowski – finalist of the competition for the project of the book Wyjedź – Zostań / Leave – Stay, Gliwice;
2011 – Frame010 – 2nd place in the competition for the Do or Die set, in the recreation category, Republic Czech;
2010 – Wine Photo 2010 – finalist of the competition with the set A Place Called Home (then Visit at home), Italy;
2010 – MioPhotoAward – Finalist of The Story set, Japan;
2007 – grand Press Photo – Final in the news category.
Books and publications:
2024 – Tributaries, Vibrations, Afterimages and Songs on the Riverbanks, phonebook with poem by Malgorzata Lebda, Warstwy, Wroclaw;
2021 – Reading Water, online publication of a poetic reportage from running along the river Wisła, Pismo magazine;
2019 – Leave Stay, original photo book, Galeria im. Śledziński, Bialystok, Poland;
2013 – Albom.pl – Book summarizing the photo project albom.pl, Association of Cultural Education WIDOK, Bialystok, Poland;
2011 – Wyliczanka, Sputnik Photos, Warsaw, Poland; since 2009 Publications of works commissioned by such magazines as Newsweek Polska, Wprost, Success, Weekend, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Gazeta Wyborcza;
2004 – Bialystok One Day, Self Publish, Bialystok, Poland;
Other achievements and experience;
2022 – 2024 – Poets of Today – Voices of Tomorrow, education project about popularisation poetry in young adults, financing by Creative Europe;
2021 – 2022 – workshop leader, Polish Woman Photographers;
2020 – Take a look around. A show of photo reports from the world as part of the Krakow Month photography;
2020 – co-founder of the RAV.A association, dealing with promotion photography;
2015 – participation in the project Rural Photographers from Podlasie, consisting in renovation, scanning and sharing on the Internet photos of photographers working in Podlasie in Poland;
2013 – until now – participation in the Albom.pl project – Photographic archaeological expedition to the Polish – Belarusian borderland, consisting in scanning and processing private archives photography on the Polish-Belarusian border. The summary of the project is the book and an exhibition that was presented during the Month of Photography in Minsk;
2011 – 2012 – Co-founding of the DOC Foundation, organization of e.g. group exhibition Street Photography Now !!!, Lots of Women – Mikołaj Grynberg, Photographic Project Fotoikony presented, among others at Krakow Photomonth in 2012;
2008 – today – freelancer, photographer.
2008 – 2009 – photo editor Dziennik Polska Europa Świat, Warsaw, Poland;
2004 – 2008 – photojournalist of Gazeta Wyborcza, Bialystok, Poland;
2004 – 2007 – artistic supervision of the Stotrzynaście Gallery in Białystok. Organization of exhibitions of such people as: Evzen Sobek, Agnieszka Rayss, Paweł Olejniczak.