Photography Studios, 2016
Photography Studios (original Polish title: Fotograf Warszawski) focuses on different aspects of high street, or general photography. The project consists of a thorough documentation of the visual traces of consumer photography within Warsaw's urban landscape. The collected imagery serves as a departure point for the analysis of social roles performed by both clients and photographers in the presence of the camera, as well as the implicit meanings of the everyday aesthetics of these particular spaces.
Photography Studios comprises a documentation of window displays of over eighty photography shops in operation in Warsaw in 2016. Another element of the project is a collection of miniature portraits of the artist. Gugała had her picture taken in each shop documented in her work. An important condition of this endeavor was to concede high street photographers full control over the final shape of the portraits. The resulting collection of 102 original prints is an exploration of social and cultural codes which permeate the world of general (consumer) photography. Authentic ephemera used by photographers to promote their services as well as a map of Warsaw listing the exact addresses of the shops, are other important elements of the project.
According to Terence Wright, there are three ways of perceiving photography: looking through, at and beyond a photograph. The latter approach is particularly inspiring, since it suggest that photography can be treated as an indicator of defined cultural patterns which determine normative behavior. This concept constitutes the theoretical framework of Photography Studios.
The project was pursued as part of the City of Warsaw Art Scholarship, 2016