Profile
Paweł Starzec, Ph.D. is a sociologist and documentary photographer. As a sociologist, he specializes in semiology of images, contemporary iconography, and visual narrations. As a documentary photographer, he completed several long-term projects documenting the effects of broad social processes.
He obtained his doctoral degree from the Institute of Applied Social Sciences of the University of Warsaw, and a Master’s degree from the Institute of Creative Photography of the University of Silesia in Opawa.
Paweł is a recipient of numerous awards, including Urbanautica Institute Award, Enconctros da Imagem Discovery Award, and the Spojrzenia award, provided by the Deutsche Bank Foundation, in collaboration with Zachęta National Gallery of Art, to most promising young artists. He earned honorable mentions in various artistic competitions such as the Allegro Prize, Grand Prix Łódź Fotofestival, and the CDS Documentary Essay Prize. He was a runner-up in the Paszporty Polityki (an annual award presented by the Polish weekly magazine Polityka for cultural and artistic achievements), Film Photo Award, and Grand Press Photo competitions. Some of his works are in the permanent collections of Encontros Da Imagem, the non-profit cultural association that organizes an International Photography and Visual Arts Festival in Braga, Portugal, and Poland’s National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning.
He co-founded Azimuth Press, an artistic-educational collective, the Papier Bije Kamień Foundation (Paper Trumps Rock Foundation), and an online platform the Archive of Public Protests.
Paweł is an amateur musician and sound artist who appears under various pseudonyms. He is interested in zins and DIY culture.