Afterimage

Studies in Photography is pleased to present Afterimage, a striking new solo exhibition by Edinburgh-based Polish artist Sylwia Kowalczyk. Curated by independent photography curator Alexander Moore, the exhibition runs from 31 July to 30 August 2025. It is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and forms part of the British Council’s UK/Poland Season 2025, aligning with the Edinburgh International Festival’s “The Truth We Seek” focus on Poland.

The exhibition is FREE ENTRY, and is open from Weds-Sat 12pm-5pm.

Featuring two key bodies of work—Lethe (2017) and Metamorphoses (2024)—Afterimage explores the porous boundaries between memory, perception, and the uncanny. Kowalczyk employs analogue photography and hand-crafted collage techniques, working with taxidermied birds and mammals sourced from private collections and from the University of Edinburgh’s Zoology Department. These works layer scientific formality with surreal ruptures—split bodies, cracked eggshells, mirrored fragments—each image becoming an echo of something lost or half-remembered.

Through her process of photographing analogue prints, physically cutting and reassembling them, and then re-photographing the results, Kowalczyk creates images that hover between states: anatomical and allegorical, serene yet uncanny. The artist’s trained eye—reshaped by early retinal surgery—lends her work a unique visual tension, where perception becomes subtly misaligned, and reality is never quite stable.

Alongside the visual intensity, Afterimage integrates a rich public programme designed to deepen cultural connections.

Highlights include:

Curator & Artist tour
Surrealist collage workshop, led by the artist
Performance evening, featuring Polish musicians and poetry, incollaboration with EIF's Focus on Poland strand
Gallery reception, open to press and partners

This summer exhibition will also act as a precursor to Darkness into Light: Polish Photography (2027) at Dalkeith Palace—a major exhibition from the same curator which will explore the history of surrealism in Polish photography from the mid 20th century to modern day. Afterimage builds the cultural and institutional foundations for this 2027 project and begins the dialogue with Polish audiences in Scotland.

---

Sylwia Kowalczyk, (b. Lublin, Poland; based in Edinburgh) has been recognised in awards such as Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed – the Photographers’s Gallery’s pick of the most promising graduates in UK, andreGeneration 2 as one of the most promising 80 young photographers in the world, an exhibition which is touring the world and published as a book by Thames and Hudson and Aperture Foundation. Her work was also recently featured in prestigious “The Decisive Moment: Contemporary Polish Photography Since 2000” by Adam Mazur and is included in museum collections of Musée de l'Elysée in Switzerland, The UK Parliament and numerous private collections in Poland, US, South Africa, UK and South Korea.

Alexander Moore, director of Artworld Projects and curator of Afterimage, says: “Sylwia’s work invites viewers into a liminal space between perception and memory — where biological forms fracture and reassemble, and the image lingers long after you’ve looked. It is both delicate and disorientating, an act of seeing differently.”

Studies in Photography is Scotland’s lead organisation, established in 1983, solely devoted to the promotion of historic and contemporary photography. Delivered through a program of publishing (books, journals and prints) and exhibitions. In 2023 it opened a gallery and bookshop in the West End of Edinburgh.

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery, which, now in its 30th year, has supported over 14,600 projects with more than £501.9 million in funding through Creative Scotland and its predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot