Sebastian Vaida

Karol Szymkowiak (b. 1983) is a photographer, photobook artist, curator and educator based in Poznań, Poland. Self-taught photographer, specializing in documentary photography and photo collages - work with archives. His work revolves around themes such as environmental problems, military and civil defence, physical and mental immobilisation. He is constantly fascinated by finding surrealism in faithfully recording reality using photography. As a photographer, he has participated in over a dozen group exhibitions. Since 2015 he is art curator of a long-term photography documentary project The Września Collection (Kolekcja Wrzesińska) whose patron is the Mayor of the City and Municipality of Września. As part of his work on this project, he is collaborating with leading Polish photographers to create photobooks and exhibitions about his home town of Września. Karol is a member of The Association of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAF) and a scholarship recipient of the Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region in the field of culture. He is also a lecturer in photography at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

Laura Van Severen studied Fine Arts and Photography at KASK School of Arts in Ghent, (Belgium) where she obtained her MA in 2015. She develops photographic projects in which she explores the landscape —apparently static, still, distant— to address the relationship we have with it and the trace we leave upon it. She moves away from the immediacy of the medium and creates from stillness and reflection. This has resulted in projects such as Land, Strata or El camp d’elles in which she addresses topics such as the transformation and fragmentation of the landscape, global logistics, waste management in the EU or the condition of women in a rural environment. Under the title Listening–Gathering, she is currently creating a collection of stories in which sound impacts and materialises into concrete realities. Laura lives in Barcelona (Spain) where she also works as a freelance photographer, teacher and studio manager.

Visvaldas Morkevicius (b. 1990) is a Lithuanian artist s a Lithuanian artist working in the expanded field of the image, who explores photography and its boundaries through personal experiences and reflections on society. His work navigates themes of identity, technology, and power, blending minimalism with layered narratives to examine modern life’s emotional and psychological dimensions. At this moment, he is pursuing his MA diploma in Photography at EACL, Switzerland (2025). Visvaldas works reflect a deep engagement with contemporary life's emotional and psychological dimensions, examining how hyperconnectivity, media saturation, and systemic forces shape human perception, memory, and agency. The artist's approach is both critical and reflective. He uses photography and interdisciplinary media to explore themes of loss, disconnection, and resilience, juxtaposing personal experience with broader societal dynamics. His art often reveals the tension between intimacy and detachment, questioning how technology mediates relationships, reframes violence, and commodifies identity. Visvaldas draws from psychoanalysis and critical theory to investigate the cycles of desire, control, and addiction embedded in modern systems. He is particularly interested in how these systems exploit human vulnerability, trapping individuals in loops of consumption and obedience. Through his practice, he challenges viewers to confront the fragile balance between autonomy and control, reality and hyperreality.His work combines stark minimalism with layered narratives, creating immersive experiences that invite reflection on contemporary life's emotional and ethical implications. Visvaldas seeks to uncover hidden connections, offering a lens through which to question the forces that shape our lives while exploring the human desire for meaning, connection, and self-expression. Represented by Galerie Elisabeth & Reinhard Hauff

Lucija Rosc (b. 1995) is a visual artist based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Rosc graduated in photography from the Faculty of Applied Sciences VIST in Ljubljana in 2018 and earned her master’s degree in Visual Communication Design, with a focus on photography, with special honors from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design (ALUO) in 2022. Rosc received the UL ALUO Prešeren Award and was a nominee for the 2024 OHO Award, Slovenia's premier national recognition for young visual artists. Rosc's art practice combines an investigative approach with play, drawing inspiration from her childhood memories, family archives, and the environment in which she grew up. She has held numerous solo exhibitions, with her work featured in exhibitions across Europe and the USA. Additionally, Rosc's work has been showcased at prestigious contemporary photography fairs, including Unseen Amsterdam, Photo Basel, Viennacontemporary art fair and the Art Salon Zürich, among others.

Thalles Piaget (*1996) is a human being - not an artificial intelligence - born in Brazil and living in Biel/Bienne - CH. Essentially vagabond, Thalles is inspired by readings, walks, and reflections. Capturing a moment that doesn’t truly exist, trying to transform the ordinary into a dreamlike experience. Its artistic approach is at the border of dreams, science, and absurdity. Wandering, guided by the moment, playing with its non-existence. “In my work, I aim to open a window to a dreamlike digital universe composed of surfaces, reflections, and light, free from its commercial intent yet infused with a poetic perspective on the machinery’s materials. In my photographs and installations, I want to explore and question the possibilities of our digital images and their inflationary use in our daily lives. While using the medium of photography, my aim is not to document specific scenes or compositions, but rather to seek what is between the subject and the camera and to capture the moments in between. Photography serves as a fundamental tool in my creative work, yet paradoxically, it is the medium with which I maintain the most critical relationship.”‍

Irish artist Shane Hynan holds an MFA in Photography (Ulster University, 2019). His practice centres on photography with experimental elements in sound, video, collage, and sculpture. The metaphorical exploration of place, land and architecture is a significant subtext throughout his work. He draws upon conceptual, performative and subjective documentary approaches and works primarily with analogue photography processes as it enhances an emotional and intuitive connection with landscape and topography. He has shown his work extensively in Ireland and received multiple awards from the Arts Council of Ireland, Creative Ireland, and Kildare Arts. He has exhibited internationally in China, Germany, and the UK, and was shortlisted for the Royal Photographic Society IPE162, IPE163 and IPE166. In 2024 he undertook residencies at the Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris, France), and at the Roscommon Arts Centre (Roscommon, Ireland).

Romane Iskaria is a French photographer and artist working in Brussels, Belgium (1997). She graduated with a Master's degree in photography from ENSAV La Cambre in 2022 and a DNA (National Diploma in Plastic Arts) from INSEAAM Beaux Arts in Marseille in 2018. She also completed an exchange at the U-LAVAL Visual Arts school in Quebec, Canada. The photographer highlights the injustices and inequalities of invisible communities with a documentary and fictional approach. Her images, specific to “Care”, tell a story and allow her subjects to become aware of their painful stories. The artist uses photography and the field of video, but also textiles, sound, and sculpture to create immersive installations. She tells stories that take the form of a long-term investigation across several territories. Romane replays specific rituals and stories that also transcend borders, addressing questions around migration and exile. The photographer creates plastic forms allowing her to subvert the codes of documentary.

Viacheslav Poliakov is a visual artist, photographer, graphic designer. He was born in 1986 in Kherson, Ukraine. Obtained a master’s degree in art education from Kherson State University. Now based in Lviv, Ukraine. His art practice exists on the intersection of documentary photography and design. He's interested in objects and spaces made by people, the historic background behind the urban landscape. Viacheslav is a finalist of Foam Talents, Vienna Photobook Festival, Circulations, Krakow Photomonth Showoff, Fotofestival Lodz Grand Prix, Prix Levallois. His works were published in the Foam Magazine, The British Journal of Photography, GUP magazine, Lensculture, The Washington Post.