Documentalist, sociologist, academic teacher.
Anew
Makeshift
DC
Zersetzung
A Mountain
Home
Commissioned & Commercial
Sound
Bio/CV
Blog
Documentalist, sociologist, academic teacher.
Anew
Makeshift
DC
Zersetzung
A Mountain
Home
Commissioned & Commercial
Sound
Bio/CV
Blog
starzec.pawel@gmail.com
+48 665128743
Recipient of the Hasselblad Foundation Photo Book Grant 2025, Young Poland 2024 Ministry of Culture scholarship, PixHouse Talent of the Year Scholar award, Artistic Scholarship of the Mayor of Wrocław 2024. Winner of Urbanautica Institute Award, Enconctros da Imagem Discovery Award and Spojrzenia Award. Received honorable mentions in Allegro Prize, Lodz Fotofestival Grand Prix, and CDS Documentary Essay Prize, finalist of the Polityka Passports Award and Grand Press Photo. His works are in collections of Encontros da Imagem (PT) and National Institute of Architecture and Urbanism (PL).
As a sociologist, he researches modern iconographies and visual narratives. Vice Dean of the Faculty of Design at SWPS University and Head of Communication Design speciality at the School of Form USWPS. Creator of workshop programs, co-founder of Azimuth Press art/education collective. Co-founder of the Archive of Public Protest platform. Graduate of Applied Sociology Department of University of Warsaw, and of Institute of Creative Photography of Silesian University in Opava (MA). Part time musician and sound artist under various monikers. DIY / zine culture enthusiast.
2024 Young Poland Scholarship of Polish Ministry of Culture (for: Anew)
2024 PixHouse Talent of the Year Scholar Award (for: Anew)
2024 Artistic scholarship of the Mayor of Wrocław (for: Anew)
2021 Spojrzenia, with APP collective
2021 Paszport Polityki, nomination, with APP collective
2021 Urbanautica Institute Awards (for: Makeshift)
2020 Allegro Prize, honorable mention
2020 TIFF Open, honorable mention (for: Zersetzung)
2019 Lucie Foundation Emerging Artist Grant, shortlist (for: Zersetzung)
2019 Łódź Fotofestival Grand Prix prize, honorable mention (for: Makeshift)
2018 CDS Documentary Essay Prize in Photography, honorable mention (for: Makeshift)
2018 Polish Photographic Publication of the Year, shortlist (for: Becva Interiors)
2018 Grand Press Photo in Documentary, finalist (for: Makeshift)
2018 The Magenta Foundation Flash Forward (for: Makeshift)
2017 LensCulture Emerging Talent Award (for: Makeshift)
2017 Encontros da Imagem Discovery Award (for: Makeshift)
2017 Photon’s Different Worlds, finalist (for: Makeshift)
2017 Lucie Foundation Photo Taken Emerging Scholarship, shortlist (for: Makeshift)
2017 Athens Photo Festival, shortlist (for: Makeshift)
2017 Belgrade Photo Month New Talents, 2nd place (for: Makeshift)
2015 Polish Photographic Publication of the Year, shortlist (for: Mountain)
2018 Makeshift, MŰTŐ, Budapest
2017 Makeshift, Water Memory, Miejsce przy Miejscu, Wrocław
2012 Home, Fridom, 3A Project Space, Gdynia
2011 Home, Fridom, Galeria Scena, Koszalin
2010 Home. Fridom, G23 CRK, Wrocław
2021 Zersetzung, Atlasy Nowych Topografii, Galeria Centrala, Poznań (PL)
2020 Letniska, Nowe Ciepło festival, Nowe Miasto Lubawskie (PL)
2019 Makeshift, Made in Opava, Historical Museum of Katowice (PL)
2018 Home, Gewalt, How to refuse?, BWA SiC, TIFF Festival, Wrocław (PL)
2018 Nothing left to be saved, IFF, Warszawa (PL)
2018 Makeshift, Andere Welten, Photon Gallery, Wien (AT)
2018 Makeshift, LensCulture Emerging Talent, Klompching Gallery, New York (USA)
2018 Makeshift, Topografie, I. Zjeżdżałka Festival, Poznań (PL)
2017 Makeshift, Collection of Encontros da Imagem, Museo Muncipal, Outono Fotográfico, Ourense (E)
2017 Makeshift, Drugačni Svetovi / Different Worlds , Kino Šiška, PHOTON, Ljubljana (SLO)
2017 Makeshift, Encontros Da Imagem, Edifício do Castelo, Braga (PT)
2017 Makeshift, New Talents, Belgrade Photo Month 2017 (SRB)
2015 Concrete, Krajobrazy miejskie, Festiwal Przestrzeni Miejskiej Rzeszów (PL)
2013 To so mladi ljudje, Skrinja Prodajna Maribor (SLO)
2012 It's not good enough, Liebig12 Berlin (DE)
2011 Home, Title Unknown, Muzeum Współczesne Wrocław, TIFF Festival (PL)
2010 Normalizm #1, College of Communication London (UK)
2018 – 2022 Photography, MA, ITF Silesian University in Opava
2014 – 2018 Photography, BA, ITF Silesian University in Opava
2014 – 2016 Applied Social Sciences, MA, University of Warsaw
2011 – 2014 Sociology, BA, University of Wrocław
2012 Ein Lab: interact! residency, Berlin
Umiejętność obserwowania bez emocjonalnego uwikłania, Julia Kaczorowska, Fotopolis, 2025 (POL)
Fotograficzny blog pod kępą trawy, Beata Bartecka, Pismo Artystyczne Format, 2024 (POL)
Paweł Starzec. Makeshift, Steve Bisson, Urbanautica, 2021 (ENG)
Od skłotersów po Bałkany, Filip Skrońc, newonce.radio, 2020 (POL)
Covid Clubs – Zdjęcia klubów w czasie pandemii, Paweł Mączewski, Radio Kampus, 2020 (POL)
I Don’t Want to Go Back to the Constant FOMO, Michał Dąbrowski, culture.pl, 2020 (ENG)
Mur był na zawsze, a potem nagle zniknął, Paweł Starzec, Goethe Institut Magazin, 2019 (PL/DE)
Korekta postawy, Paweł Starzec, Goethe Institut Magazin, 2019 (PL/DE)
Nie-widoki. Fotograficzne narracje o bólu, Marianna Michałowska, Załącznik Kulturoznawczy 2018 (POL)
Пишите вашу историю: Боснийские концлагеря сегодня, Alina Sandulyak, Bird In Flight, 2018 (RU)
Staram się nie być kolonizatorem, Beata Bartecka, O.pl / Ownetic, 2017 (POL)
Photographer Paweł Starzec explores war, landscape and history in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Trip Mag, 2017 (ENG)
These Apparently Ordinary Places Hide a Horrible, Horrible Past, fotoroom.co, 2017 (ENG)
Winners write history: Pawel Starzec inspects Bosnian War’s leftovers, C41 Magazine, 2017 (ENG)
Architecture and Power 2: Block party, Anastasiia Fedorova, Calvert Journal, 2016 (ENG)
Unsettled ground – Revisiting the lost sites of the Yugoslav wars, Anastasiia Fedorova, Calvert Journal, 2016 (ENG)
Last Updated 31.12.2025