Michael Kowalczyk – Photo by J.Ruszkiewicz
Michael was born in 1979 in Wroclaw, Poland. In 1989 his family emigrated to the city of Aachen in Germany. After finishing tertiary education he started to work at the RWTH Aachen University as Multimedia Specialist. In 2003 he bought his first digital camera and started to make photographs in public. During the following years, he continued to improve his knowledge and skills through formal and informal education and workshops in the field of Street- and Documentary Photography. After two group art exhibitions in 2009 and 2010, his photo works became published in online and print publications, including Edge of Humanity and the EyeEm Magazine. After moving to NYC in 2015 he started to work as Teaching Assistant in the International Center of Photography School and became involved with the local Street Photography community. He worked with and learned from internationally renowned photographers such as Natan Dvir and Jeff Mermelstein. Huffington Post writer Michael Sweet attributed him an “exceptional talent in his urban compositions”.
Michael is currently traveling through the Americas and continues to document public life using a Ricoh GR II with 28mm Wide Angle Lens.
Interviews
- 2018 – Fotopolis.pl Interview with Julia Kaczorowska
- 2018 – 121 Clicks Interview with Venkat Prakash
- 2018 – Xataka Interview with Jesus León
- 2017 – Szeroki Kadr Interview
- 2016 – Huffington Post Interview with Michael Sweet
Competitions and Awards
- 2019 – Urban Photo Awards 2019 – Finalist (Single Image)
Medellin Mirror, Colombia 2018
- 2019 – Italian Street Photography Festival 2019 – Finalist (Single Image)
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Medellin Mirror, Colombia 2018
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- 2018 – Miami Street Photography Festival 2018 – Finalist (Single Image)
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Frozen, NYC 2017
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- 2018 – Pentaxforums.com Photo Contest May “People, Candid or Street” – Winner
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Smokey Coat, NYC 2017
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- 2018 – SPi Street Photography International Awards – Finalist
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Closeup Dreams, Fort Tilden, NYC, 2016
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- 2017 – ΦΩS ATHENS – Finalist
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Window, NYC 2017
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- 2017 – EyeEm Photo Awards 2017 – Finalist (The Street Photographer)
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Exit On Wall Street, NYC 2017
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- 2017 – Urban Street Dive Contest 2017 – 2nd place
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Rain Rush, NYC 2017
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- 2016 – #ShotONALeica Instagram Contest during Art Basel – Winner
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Fly Away, Miami 2016
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- 2015 – Pfarrei St. Jakob Contest “Weg” – 2nd place
Publications (Print)
- 2019 – Short Street Stories Book – Street Photography Book by Exhibit Around
- 2018 – LUUPS 2018 – Various Art & Coupon books
- 2017 – EyeEm Magazine – V – Diversity
- 2016 – LUUPS 2017 – Various Art & Coupon books
- 2016 – GOLEM Exhibition – Catalog, Jüdisches Museum Berlin
- 2015 – LUUPS 2016 – Various Art & Coupons books
- 2015 – LUUPS 2015 – Aachen Art & Coupons book
- 2013 – Eyecatcher 2 – Contest Katholische Hochschulgemeinde Aachen (Video)
- 2012 – LUUPS 2012 – Aachen Art & Coupon book
Publications (Online)
- 2016 – Edge of Humanity – Online Publication
Exhibitions (Group)
- 2019 – Xposure, Expo Center, Sharjah, UAE
- 2019 – Street Photo Milano, Milano, IT
- 2018 – History Miami Museum, Miami, US
- 2018 – Leica Store & Cafe Mayfair, London, UK
- 2015 – EyeEm Container @ Photoville in Brooklyn, NYC, US
- 2010 – Video exhibition, Urban Styles 3.0, “Aachen Tilt Shift” in the Raststätte, Aachen, GER (Link)
- 2009 – Photo exhibition, Urban Styles 2.0, “Klingeln” in the Raststätte, Aachen, GER (Video)
Learning Photography
- 2017 – Portrait Lighting on Location: Natural and Flash with Bobbi Lane, ICP, NYC, US
- 2017 – Street Photography as Point of View with Jeff Mermelstein, ICP, NYC, US
- 2017 – The Documentary Project: The Photographer as Storyteller with Natan Dvir, ICP, NYC, US
- 2014 – What do you mean? with Paolo Woods, International Summer Academy of Fine Arts, Salzburg, Austria
- 2013 – Documentary Video with Ralf Marschalleck, Video/Film Tage 013, Institut für Medienpädagogik – Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., Koblenz, Germany
Teaching Photography
- 2017 – Advanced Street Photography: Finding Your Voice – Teaching Assistant with Natan Dvir, ICP, NYC, US
- 2017 – Style and Evidence with Stephen Ferry, ICP, NY, US
Stock Photography
- Selected photographs are available for purchase on the EyeEm Marketplace and Getty Images.
Camera Gear
- RICOH GR II
- Read more about my Camera Gear History
- All blog posts for Ricoh GR & GR II cameras
