What Does a Photo Do?

The new main exhibition at Krakow's Museum of Photography cuts across the history of the discipline, its present and its future.

Divided into five parts, the new exhibition will introduce the viewer to the world of various photographic techniques, allowing him or her to understand not only how contemporary photographic prints are made, but also to learn what methods were previously used to record images on paper. Visitors will have the opportunity to become acquainted with the most important Polish photographers whose works are held in Krakow's collections - from the museum's patron, Walery Rzewuski, and the author of the so-called "treasure from Limanowa" amateur photographer Klementyna Zubrzycka-Bączkowska, through Jerzy Lewczyński, Zofia Rydet and Zygmunt Rytka, to contemporary artists such as Robert Kuśmirowski and Anna Orłowska.

Viewers will look not only at the artists' figures, but also at an overview of the themes explored over almost two hundred years of existence, such as the documentation of family life, landscape, clouds or cars. Another important theme in the exhibition is the cultural significance of photography—how it has been used to convey knowledge about the world, but also to influence public opinion. The whole exhibition will conclude with a piece about the future of photography—about contemporary imaging techniques using photographs or how artists and artists are responding to the transformation of the world (and technology).

The exhibition consists of around 1,000 museum artefacts from the collections of the Museum of Photography in Krakow - photographic prints and albums, glass plates, negatives and photographic equipment. The diversity of the objects on display not only reflects the richness of the museum's collections, but is above all evidence of a broad view of photography. The new permanent exhibition takes a broad look at photography, portraying it as a world-changing technology, an intimate means of recording, and at the same time a companion and tool of endless global change.

curatorial team: Marek Janczyk, Monika Kozień, Marek Maszczak, Marta Miskowiec, Andrzej Rybicki
coordinator: Bartosz Flak
exhibition design: Jaz+Architekci Żmijewski Jaworski Massé s.c.
contractor: Trias Avi sp. z o.o.
technical supervision: Andrzej Potaczała Stradom
**cooperation:**Wojciech Adamczyk, Malwina Antoniszczak, dr Janusz Czop, Natalia Fyderek, Maria Masternak, Anna Lewandowska, Dariusz Lis, dr Agnieszka Olszewska, Wojciech Piotrowski, Magdalena Regulska, Magdalena Skrejko
supervision: Adrianna Gębala-Pietras
proofreading and editing: Anna Szczepańska, Janusz Krasoń
translations: Anna Pokojska
conservation and preparation: Zbigniew Chadaj, Krzysztof Dudek, Michał Misztal, Lucyna Król, Kinga Olesiejuk, Aneta Prorok
cooperation: Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Krakowie
tactile tour contractor: Serenissima sp. z o.o.
mobile app contractor: Openform s.c. Magdalena Klejdysz-Matras, Rafał Matras, Tomasz Marszałek