Lecturers - Photography School

The author’s programs of study for the various faculties have been constructed on the basis of the experience of our lecturers and long-standing educators. Every year programs are modified to adapt the teaching process to the current requirements of the trade.

Director of the School of Creative Photography

PhD  Jerzy Gaweł

Founder of the Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design and School of Creative Photography (SKF) and co-author of the School’s comprehensive program. A photographer with very extensive experience in both commercial work and teaching photography, which is his great passion.
He teaches classes in nude photography and gumprint. In his pedagogical and artistic work he is constantly looking for new approaches to classical photographic subjects, thus creating a new quality in the photographer’s work. The unconventionality of his approach to photographic subjects and teaching results in the creation of unconventional works in his studios, which attract photographic university tours from all over the world. A meeting at the Gumpprint Studio was on the agenda of photographers from England, Scotland, Holland, Germany and Australia.
He has conducted masterclasses at photography events in Poland and abroad, including fashion photography at the CMTV Television School in Tbilisi, Georgia, and at the Umelcov Spisa GALLERY in Slovakia.
He invites world-famous photographers and designers. Guest lectures or workshops at the Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design were by Jeanloup Sieff, Mark Bickerstaffe, Ernestine Ruben, Naomi Rosenblum, Martin Pegler, Gary Baseman, Carol Morgan, Drew Plunkett, Roger Ballen and others.
Juror of photography and fashion competitions in Poland and abroad, including at the Poznan International Fair, Lodz International Fair, Cracow Fashion Week, Kosice Fashion Week, Habitus Baltija in Riga.

Fine Art Photographer Massa –  Michał Mąsior

Fashion and advertising photographer graduated from the International Center of Photography in New York and other courses including Getty Images. He learned from the world’s top photographers including Bruce Gilden and Wojciech Plewinski. He was nominated for the Polish Fashion Oscars. He has worked with many publications and well-known personalities including: Lounge Magazine, Miasto Kobiet, Si-Magazyn, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Capella Cracoviensis, Film Polska, 4F, Gena, Sizeer, Symbiosis, Krakbau, Bikershop, Gemini Park and many others. He maintains a blog where you can see his work – madmassa.com

Master Coetzee Nathanaël

Nathanaël is a lecturer at the Cracow school of Art and Fashion Design – School of Creative Photography where he also leads photowalks and workshops on portrait photography.

Nathanaël Coetzee is a french – south African, born in 1983, in Japan. He studied cinematography and applied arts at the University of Aix-Marseille III, before attending the Studio M school. He then joined in 2012 « Skill and you », photography school of Paris, where he studied Reportage and Model photography.  It is during those studies that he met masters such as Raymond Depardon, Jane Evelyn Atwood and William Klein, and got hooked on the process of Portrait photography.

Once an established photographer, he moved on to work in different countries, France, South Africa and Switzerland, in teaching, fashion campaigns (H&M, Etam), Studios (Daguerre, The White Loft) and magazines (Elle, Polka).

While in Paris he attended classes at the Harcourt Studio where he learned the art of portrait photography. He would then later lead workshops at the Studio.

In 2015 he met with French Photographer Gildas Lepetit-Castel, who became a close friend and mentor.
During that period of time he was taught the process of printing such as photography books and curating work, teaching photography, and doing workshops.
Gildas Lepetit-Castel was himself trained by french renowned and very prolific photographer Bernard Plossu.

In 2017 Nathanael created his own collective and Magazine « inSomnia » which served as a platforme for new and upcoming talent, but also for veterans of the industry, to help show and share their vision. After Making 5 successful publications, he is now working on a new project  « Unknwn Dreamers » involving art and photography, using the zine as a communication tool.  It is set to come out in 2019. He has also curated and helped young and professional photographers into making their own books, portfolios.

Being a strong believer of the printing process, Nathanaël keeps exploring different methods and ways to publish photography, wether it’s through publication, or thrugh the usage of varous papers for exhibitions, personnal projects.
He has published to this date 3 personnal books and 1 collaboration zine.
He is also a strong user of analog and shoots most of his work using film.

PhD Agat Błoński Tomas

Photographer born in 1975 in Košice, Slovakia. He has led the Photography Studio at the Faculty of Arts in Košice since 2002. In 2010 he received his PhD at the Academy of Fine Arts (VŠVU) in Bratislava at the Department of Visual Media. He has been on scholarship in Poland (Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan), the United States (Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania) and an internship in Edinburgh, UK.

As a lecturer at the School of Creative Photography, he focuses on character photography and staged photography. He also currently serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Animated Film, Photography and Digital Media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, where he leads the Photography Studio.

Tomas Agat Błonki’s works have been seen in more than 20 individual exhibitions and eighty group exhibitions in various parts of the world, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Brazil and the USA. He is also a curator and organizer of many exhibitions himself.

In 2004, he was nominated for Slovakia’s Oskar Čepán Award for Young Artist of the Year.

His creative interests revolve around various experimental techniques, large-format photography and computer art.

Fine Art Photographer Rafał Idczak

Artist with a diploma in photography and artistic ceramics, dealing with visual arts in the broadest sense. Painter, graphic designer and photographer in his daily life. Graduate of Krakowskie Szkoły Artystyczne (Cracow School of art and Fashion Design) in the field of artistic photography – SKF School of Creative Photography.

He has worked as a photographer at events such as Cracow Fashion Week, art biennale (documentary photographer), reconstruction of the Battle of Grunwald (press photographer) and as a private photographer and set and set assistant commissioned by the Shannon group. He is the author of a mural commissioned by the organizers of the juggling festival „Koloryt” in 2017.

With painting being his greatest passion, to which he devotes most of his time, he develops artistically by seeking new solutions in classical arts. Continuous development in many fields of art makes him cooperate with many private collectors. In the field of painting, he has won prizes and awards such as:

-I place in the IX National Competition „Compositions”, Elblag 2015, Category: Painting-youth -award in the field of painting at the Art Review entitled: „Człowiek (Human)”, Poznań 2017 -award at the national painting review in Bielsko-Biała, 2017, for achievements in painting

In addition to classical arts, he is also widely involved in computer graphics, including: retouching, vector design, video editing, 3D graphics or UI/UX design. He is proficient in Adobe creative suite on Mac and Windows systems.

He works in sculpture, drawing and often creates his own literary works. He is a freelance artist, taking on a wide range of challenges and projects, regardless of the theme or degree of difficulty in any given endeavor. He also devotes his time to teaching others in the fields of computer graphics, drawing, classical and digital photography, sculpture and painting. With his knowledge of English, he shares his acquired knowledge with students from different parts of the world.

Master of art Monika Mroczkowska-Białasik

Lecturer in interior design and photography at the School of Interior Design and in architectural and experimental photography at the School of Creative Photography. She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Graphics (majoring in photography) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. She runs her own interior design studio and is the author of many projects and realizations of restaurants, hotels, stores and private homes. She has presented her photographs in many collective and individual exhibitions.

Master Magdalena Kęskiewicz

She is a lecturer at the School of Fashion Design, graduated from Journalism and Social Communication at Jagiellonian University. Coordinator of Exhibitions and Student Collaborations: Oversees exhibitions and manages collaborative projects between the School of Creative Photography and the International School of Fashion Design. Also coordinates photo shoots at the School of Creative Photography. She designs collections, participates in fashion shows and competitions. She also works as a stylist for photo shoots, published in Eks-Magazine and City of Women, among others. As a stylist, she cooperates with fashion photographers, clothing companies, advertising agencies and show producers (Moda&Styl, Lounge Magazine, Secret Lashes).

Master Lucia Benická

Since 2008, Lucia Benická, M.A., has been teaching at the Krakow School of Art (KSA) on issues related to the contemporary history of photography. Since 2012 she has been working as a director at the Gallery of Spiš Artists (Museum of Art, www.gus.sk) in the Slovak town of Spišská Nová Ves, as well as a curator of photography and contemporary art. Since 2008, she has been teaching at the Krakow School of Art (KSA) on issues related to the contemporary history of photography.
Benická, MA, graduated from the History of Art and Aesthetics Department at the University of Komensky in Bratislava in 1987. She has extensive experience in the field of contemporary photography and art as a curator, art manager, lecturer, publicist and exhibition organizer. She has curated and organized hundreds of exhibitions at home and abroad and published dozens of catalogs. Her recent work also includes publications, art production and lectures in contemporary and historical photography.

From 1987 to 1992 she worked as a curator at Gallery of Spiš Artists, from 1993 to 2002 as a curator at Tatra Gallery in Poprad, from 2003 to 2012 she was a freelance photographer. In 1996 she founded the non-profit organization House of Photography, the first specialized photographic institution in Slovakia: until 2005 it was located in Poprad, from 2006 to 2016 in Liptov Gallery of P.M. Bohúň in Liptovský Mikuláš. She led the organization as director and curator in cooperation with experts from Slovakia and abroad. The organization has maintained an extensive photographic archive, exhibitions, artist residencies, international and educational programs, workshops and the international Summer Photoschool festival.
Since 1988, it has been a member of the Slovak Syndicate of Journalists (SSN). In 1993, she received the prestigious Martin Benka Curatorial Award in Slovakia for the international exchange project „Northen England in Northern Slovakia,” and subsequently received Fulbright scholarships in the US (1996-1997 – Chicago: research at the Museum of Photography at Columbia College, 2005 – research at San Diego City Coolege). She has participated in many studio stays, taught photography, curated exhibitions and reviewed portfolios at festivals in such countries as the USA, UK, Finland, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, France, Hungary, Russia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, Estonia and others.

Fine Art Photographer Edyta Potrząsaj

Edyta Potrząsaj is a graduate of the School of Creative Photography at the Cracow School of Art and Fashion Deisgn. Professionally engaged in fashion photography, on a daily basis she cooperates with many clothing brands, cosmetics and beauty industry, realizing for them advertising campaigns, product, lookbook and image photographs. She also supports numerous start-ups and young designers. She has done projects for brands such as HEAN, Medicine, Answear.com, Apple, Louve, Hers, Reporter Young, No Sugar, Uado, Rilke, Rabbit Rabbit, Greenpoint and many others. Published in, among others: Harper’s Bazaar, Polska, Vogue Italia, Viva Moda, LNE Polska, Imute Magazine, Lucy’s Magazine, Mordant Magazine, Shuba Magazine, Fuzz Magazine, Huf Magazine, Fashion Inside, Ellements Magazine, Soltice Magazine, Northside Magazine, Business Magazine, Newsweek, Gazeta Wyborcza. Promoted by Lidia Popiel and Dorota Wróblewska. Since 2016, she has been permanently associated with the Answear.com brand. On instagram @edytapotrzasaj

Master Margaret Larmuth

Lecturer in Creative Technics, Branding, Innovation, and Fashion Inspiration at the Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design. She has many years of experience in various fields of art. She has worked and is working for many well-known companies, including: for such large companies as Michelgroup (Switzerland). She gained her extensive knowledge by studying at the Port Elizabeth Technikon (Textile and Weaving Arts), the University of South Africa (Art History and Conservation) and, the Höhere Fachschule für Farbgestaltung (Color and Material Design in Architecture). She also worked in Spain, the Netherlands, and Turkey, where she was involved in many projects. She supports creative ideas and conducts analyzes of new trends and market research. She participates in fashion fairs and industry events.