Moody black-and-white portrait of a person in soft directional light against a dark backdrop, fine grain, contemplative atmosphere

Fine Art & Commercial Photography

Award-winning work spanning business portraits, fashion, events, and conceptual series — captured on film and medium format in Wrocław, Poland.

View Portfolio
Photographer Fine Art & Commercial
Dark, grainy black-and-white photograph of a figure in soft shadow, fine-art portrait mood with deep contrast
"Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed."
— Rafal Michalak

News

Behind the scenes: styling a fashion shoot on a tight budget

Behind the scenes, a tightly budgeted fashion shoot is less about finding a bargain and more about deciding which details the images require. A limited…

A visual language for a unified photo series

Learning how to build a cohesive photo series around a single theme means treating photographs as parts of an argument. A portrait session may produce a…

Why medium format film still matters in a digital age

Photography now lives in a world of instant previews, high-resolution sensors, cloud galleries and same-day social media delivery. A portrait can be captured…

The Psychology of Colour in Portrait Photography

Colour can change the emotional temperature of a portrait before the viewer has consciously studied the subject. A deep blue background may suggest distance,…

Why Time in the Darkroom Still Matters for Every Photographer

Digital cameras have made photography faster, more flexible and easier to distribute. A photographer can review an image seconds after making it, adjust…

A Practical Guide To Scanning And Digitising Film Negatives

Film negatives contain more information than a casual contact sheet suggests. With a careful scan, a frame made on 35mm, medium-format, or black-and-white film…

The Polish photographic legacy shaping my practice

Polish photography has taught me to treat an image as both a document and a construction. It can carry the evidence of a particular street, face or political…

Working with flash: balancing ambient and artificial light

Flash photography becomes persuasive when the added light belongs to the scene rather than competing with it. Ambient light gives a photograph its atmosphere,…

Finding inspiration through creative block

Creative block rarely means that the imagination has disappeared. More often, it appears as a thinning of attention: familiar ideas return, the first…

Choosing the right images for a photographic project

The art of editing a photographic project begins with selection, but selection is only the first editorial decision. The photographs placed beside one another…

Selected Series

A cross-section of commissioned and personal projects spanning fine art, commercial, and conceptual work.

Motion-blurred black-and-white view down a curved tunnel with track lines and lights, dynamic and disorienting mood

The Wall

2015

Winner of the 1st prize & Golden Glass Award at the 11th Photographic Open Championship Olsztyn, and 1st place with the Special Prize of FORMAT magazine at the 3rd Biennial of Art in Piotrków Trybunalski.

View Series →
Black-and-white view through a car windshield of two vehicles driving on a snowy mountain road, overcast mood

An Engagement Ring

2011

A narrative series set in Wrocław in August 2011. Awarded 2nd prize & Silver Glass at the 10th Photographic Open Championship Olsztyn in 2014.

View Series →
Grainy black-and-white photograph with strong contrast, fine-art editorial style, moody and atmospheric

Heat Wave

2014

A documentary series recording spontaneous events across August and September 2014, capturing the raw energy of a city under the grip of summer.

View Series →