Exhibitions

The Collections Room: Out of the Corner of the Eye – an exhibition exploring how we take and view photographs

Is photography a reliable record and an indisputable testimony of what once was? When looking at the same thing, do we see the same thing? These are the questions raised by the new exhibition at the Gdańsk Gallery of Photography. The opening will take place on 24 April at 6 pm at the headquarters of the Gallery and NOMUS – New Art Museum at 14 Jaracza Street in Gdańsk. 

The Collections Room is a series of exhibitions showcasing selected works from the Gdańsk Gallery of Photography and the Gdańsk Collection of Contemporary Art, held at the NOMUS –New Art Museum. It will feature works by Pomeranian artists such as Bolesław and Edmund Zdanowski, Stefan Figlarowicz, Marcel Grisard, Wiesław Gruszkowski, Roman Joachimowski, Krzysztof Kamiński, Henryk Radowicz and Dorota Walentynowicz, as well as artists from outside the Tri-City area, including Anna Kutera, Krystyna Łyczywek, Jiří Jahoda and Jacqueline Livingston. The exhibition will also feature works by artists not included in the museum’s collection: Rafał Kucharczuk, Rafał Plack and Tomek Zerk. Their photographs demonstrate a variety of approaches to portraiture and the experimental potential of instant photography.

The exhibition will feature works by established artists alongside photographs by unknown photographers. Their images can be classified as vernacular photography, which is functional, everyday photography primarily created for private purposes. Juxtaposing works by amateurs (enthusiasts and hobbyists) and professional artists reflects the richness and versatility of the photographic medium.

This instalment of the series is curated by Maja Bieńkowska, who is a cultural studies scholar, photographer, exhibition curator at the National Museum in Gdańsk. Her work focuses on philosophy and photography, particularly the relationship between photography and reality, the limits of photographic perception, and humour in photography.

‘This latest exhibition in the Collections Room series is dedicated to both the creators of photographs, who seek to capture fragments of reality through the lens, and the viewers who imbue these images with new meanings. In this exhibition, I encourage visitors to reflect on the nature of photography, its materiality, and its relationship with reality’, says the curator.

Is a photograph merely a transparent image, a window through which we can see the world as the photographer once saw it? Or is it, on the contrary, a medium that is constantly negotiating its truth and is susceptible to interpretation, shifts and the blurring of the boundaries between document and creation? In this context, the question also arises as to the role of artistic photography, where the creative impulse goes beyond mere recording to open up a realm of experimentation, intuition, and visual poetry.

‘When a photograph is created, the viewer’s gaze is just as important as the photographer’s. It is the viewer who gives the image its meaning by drawing on their biography, memory, and emotional sensitivity.’ Therefore, one could argue that a photograph is born twice: once when the shutter is pressed and again when it is viewed, taking on new meaning through the viewer’s perspective,’ adds Maja Bieńkowska.

The exhibition is divided into three chapters. The Photographer’s Eye presents those taking photographs – both directly and indirectly – as well as their visions and interpretations of the world. The Viewer’s Eye gathers images showing how we look at reality, reminding us that we ourselves are also objects of vision. Exercises in Looking draws attention to the active role of the viewer in reading images and assigning meaning to them. When looking at the same thing, do we see the same thing? How do our experiences or sensitivities influence what we perceive? The exhibition encourages us to look at photographs not only as images of the world but also as a space of encounter – between the eye of the photographer and the eye of the viewer.

The Collections Room: Out of the Corner of the Eye
24 April – 26 July 2026
Gdańsk Gallery of Photography and NOMUS – New Art Museum, 14 Jaracza Street in Gdańsk

Artists:

Dariusz Bógdał, Tadeusz Chmielowiec, Stefan Figlarowicz, Stanisław Filibert Fleury, Jadwiga Golcz, Gottheil & Sohn, Marcel Grisard, Wiesław Gruszkowski, Romuald Tadeusz Grygiel, Grzegorz Grzelakowski, Stanisław Iwanowicz, Jiří Jahoda, Roman Joachimowski, Stefan Kaczorowski, Krzysztof Kamiński, Włodzimierz Krukowski, Rafał Kucharczuk, Anna Kutera, Tomasz Lewandowski, Jacqueline Livingston, Marian des Loges, Krystyna Łyczywek, Julian Opalski, Rafał Placek, Henryk Radowicz, Janusz Sipayłło, Henryk Sylwestrowicz, Stanisław Szeligowski, Maria Wagnerówna, Dorota Walentynowicz, Mieczysław Witold Wątorski, Bolesława Zdanowska, Edmund Zdanowski, Tomek Zerek, and unidentified artists

Curator: Maja Bieńkowska
Curator Collaboration: Małgorzata Taraszkiewicz-Zwolicka
Director of the National Museum in Gdańsk: Piotr Stasiowski
Graphic Design: Anna Witkowska
Conservation: Cátia Viegas-Wesołowska, Anna Żychska
Editing and Proofreading: Agnieszka Kochanowska
Translation: Anna Zbróg
Promotion: Agnieszka Kochanowska, Klaudia Ficak, Justyna Sobotka, Paulina Szwaj
Education: Noemi Etush, Nadzieja Grabińska, Emilia Kalinowska
Collaboration: Małgorzata Falkowska, Aleksandra Grzonkowska, Mariusz Grym, Kalina Krasowska, Małgorzata Maciakowska, Maja Murawska, Piotr Pietraszek, Paweł Powirski, Mirosław Szwabowicz
Exhibition Attendants: Magdalena Obrębska, Elżbieta Pobłocka, Barbara Rezmer, Hanna Rokita, Anna Schick