Polish photography in the world: building a photography collection

ABOUT THE GUESTS AND THE HOST

Nicholas Barker has had a long career as a film, TV and commercials director. He now works as cognitive therapist. He is a founder member of the Tate Gallery’s Photography Acquisitions Committee and is a lifelong collector of multiple artefacts including photography, painting, ceramics and antiquities.

Brandei Estes was recently appointed Director of Chausse 36 Photography (Berlin). In 2023 Ms Estes left Sotheby’s as the Head of Photographs in Europe, Middle East and Asia, having started in 2013 following ten years of working in photography and contemporary art galleries in London and Paris. Ms. Estes is regularly a judge and nominator for numerous international photography awards including the Prix Pictet and the Louis Roederer Photography Prize for Sustainability, and served for five years as the Chair for the Associate Patrons Advisory Committee of The Photographers’ Gallery TPG Contemporaries.  Ms. Estes lectures throughout the year on collecting photographs and the photography market for public and private institutions, museums, galleries and fairs in the UK and continental Europe. Ms. Estes is a graduate of University College London, where she received a double honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Italian and History of Art.

@brandei_estes | @chaussee36berlin | www.chaussee36.photography

Emese Mucsi - art writer, editor and curator of the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center in Budapest since 2018. She is doing her PhD in the Film, Media, and Contemporary Culture PhD program at Eötvös Loránd University. She founded DOXA exhibition space and editorial den in 2022. She is a guest lecturer at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (2023) and the University of Szeged (2024). She graduated from the Faculty of Contemporary Art Theory and Curatorial Studies at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 2013, and from the Faculty of Hungarian Literature and Linguistics at the University of Szeged in 2017. She is the member of Global Photographies Network since 2020. She founded DOXA exhibition space and editorial den (@doxa_budapest) in 2022. She is doing her PhD in the Film, Media, and Contemporary Culture PhD program at Eötvös Loránd University. 

@mucsumesi @capacenter | www.capacenter.hu

Wiktoria Michałkiewicz, PhD, is an interdisciplinary expert and creative entrepreneur with extensive international experience in talent development, talent management, creative strategy, and photography. Alongside her academic achievements—holding five degrees from six European universities, including a PhD in Sociology, she has established a career as a contributing editor for prestigious international magazines like National Geographic, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue. Additionally, she has excelled as a film and photography producer, talent agent, and exhibition curator. Michałkiewicz has played a pivotal role in producing and curating exhibitions for renowned artists and collaborating with international festivals and institutions, having worked in various roles with some of the most renowned photography artists, including Deborah Tuberville, James Nachtwey, Sebastião Salgado, Paul Nicklen & Cristina Mittermeier, Ralph Gibson, Mary McCartney, Ragnar Axelsson, Paul Hansen, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Bastiaan Woudt, Paolo Verzone, Ciril Jazbec, Cooper & Gorfer, among others. In one of her roles, she was part of Fotografiska Stockholm and Fotografiska International, contributing to its global expansion to Tallinn and New York. She serves as a judge and nominator for international photography awards and portfolio reviewer at international festivals, including the Prix Pictet, Xposure International Photography Awards, Meitar Award for Excellence in Photography, among others. She often shares her know-how during workshops and masterclasses, including Houston Center for Photography, and the World Press Photo Foundation (Joop Swart Masterclass). In 2022, Michałkiewicz founded REZO, a consulting agency specializing in global career strategies for visual artists, talent development, international art PR, and art advisory services. Operating globally from Lisbon, Warsaw, and Stockholm, she often works with most prestigious international art events, galleries, organizations, and venues as a contributor, jury member, speaker, and consultant.

@wiktoriami | @rezo.agency | @rezo.artadvisory | www.rezo.pl

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Event concept: REZO

Organizers: IAM, Fort Institute of Photography, REZO

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Republic of Poland.

The project is organised as part of the programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025.