Magda Kuca is a Polish photographer currently based in London. Magda is interested in exploring the cyclical nature of human rituals, by utilizing historical photographic technique of wet plate collodion, using contexts of identity, memory and ethnological investigation. Magda’s work was a subject of individual exhibitions in various part of the world: 2016 at Circulation(s) Festival in Paris. In 2017 her works commissioned by Photography and the Archive Research Centre were exhibited at LCC, London.
Magda is also an educator, leading alternative and historical photographic techniques workshops (cyanotype, wet plate collodion, pinhole photography, gum bichromate, anthotype, gelatin silver printing and others) in the UK and Poland. She has collaborated with various institutions and galleries, such as British Museum, University of Arts London, Spike Printing Studio in Bristol and Four Corners Gallery. Currently Magda is working from her London studio. She is also open for commissions.
Magda’s jewellery series features tiny works of art- photographs carefully handcrafted in a traditional darkroom. Using wet collodion technique, a rare and unique method which originated in the Victorian era in 1850’s. Each a tiny photograph where no two are exactly alike. Featuring hand-made silver compounds, creating a unique multidimensional image that is then encapsulated in 925 sterling silver (Nickel-free).
In 1842 Anna Atkins brought to perfection the cyanotype process and started to use it within her botanical research. By placing plants directly onto the emulsion- coated paper and exposing it to light she obtained multiple floral photograms in prussian blue, creating first botanical photo books-objects of both art and science. Today artists and makers exploit a variety of concepts, from ecology to various forms of graphic design, using this historic method. Magda’s print series is a tribute to her work.
