curator: Rafał Siderski
Zamek Sielecki (Sosnowiec, ul. Zamkowa 2)
18.09.2026 – 31.12.2026
opening: 18.09.2026, godz. 18:00
guided tour: 20.09.2026, godz. 12:45
Why do we look at animals? And we certainly do look at them. We see them in cave paintings; we encounter them as characters in written stories. We feel a sense of satisfaction when we discover animals hidden in the paintings of the old masters, as well as when we encounter them on walks—freezing in our tracks in the woods as a pack of badgers scurries by, or even in the city, where I greet every dog I meet with a quiet yet joyful “Doggie!”
Why do we look at animals? What lies behind this unceasing fascination with animals other than ourselves? Some observe because it’s their job – their task is to see, describe, catalog, and understand in our human way. Others watch simply for the satisfaction of seeing an unusual species or rare behavior, or for the meditative experience of anticipating an encounter. Still others watch to understand us – humans – and often themselves. By anthropomorphizing the natural world around us, they seek stories about themselves and the states they find themselves in. There are also observers who combine research and art. They look for patterns, connections, and relationships, and through them, they tell us about the world of non-humans. Still others are experimenters and risk-takers who try to step into the animals’ perspective and present to us their perception, their point of view, and their way of exploring and discovering space and other species.
Why do we look at animals? John Berger posed this question nearly half a century ago in one of his essays, expanding it to include the documentation and photography of animals and, inevitably, the act of viewing them anew – this time as a recorded image.
Why We Look at…? is an exhibition of photobooks in which I aim to broaden the scope of interest to include other non-human beings. I am interested not only in the act of looking at animals itself, but also in how contemporary artists observe the non-human world. How do they look at it? What do they notice in it? How do they see us in this world, and how does this world see us, as well as what perspectives on coexistence they perceive?
List of publications:
- Viktoria Adamava, Czur, jestem w domku
- Hoda Afshar, Speak the wind
- Agencja Forum, Powódź
- Łukasz Biederman, Ballad of the lost mile
- Marta Bogdańska, Shifters
- Adam Broomberg & Raphael Gonzales, Anchor in the Landscape
- Edward Burtynsky, Anthropocene
- Marina Caneve, On the ground among the animals
- Dewe Mathews Chloe, Thames Log
- Carl De Kayzer, Trinity
- Mitch Epstein, American Nature
- Masahisa Fukase, Ravens
- Masahisa Fukase, Sasuke
- Stephen Gill, Night Procession
- Stephen Gill, The Pillar
- Agata Grzybowska, 9 Gates of no return
- Paul Guilmoth, At Night Gardens Grow
- Takashi Homma, Trails
- Hubert Humka, Death Landscapes
- Rone Jude, 12hz
- Rinko Kawauchi, Iluminance
- Tomasz Kawecki, In praise of shadows
- Michał Korta, The Shadow Line
- Diana Lelonek, Atlas śmiecioroślin
- Michał Łuczak, Extraction
- Morgana Magee, Phenomena
- Richard Mosse, Broken Spectre
- Paweł Pierściński, Struktury
- Włodzimierz Puchalski, Bezkrwawe łowy
- Łukasz Rusznica, All empires will fall
- Joanna Sakelarakii, The truth is in the soil
- Alessandra Sanguinetti, The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer
- Andy Sewell, Known and Strange Things
- Chieko Shiraisi, Shikawatari
- Anka Sielska, Salix polaris
- Taryn Simon, Birds of the West Indies
- Michał Sita, Wiesław Rakowski, Fotografie 1924–1939
- Małgorzata Stankiewicz, viridescent, afire
- Amy Stein, Domesticates
- Joanna Tochman, Sunspot
- Francesca Todde, A Sensetive Education
- Lars Tunbjork, Vinter
- Władysław Werner, Władysław Werner. Fotograf Tatr i Podhala
- Wiktor Wołkow, Wołkow. Rzeka, droga, płoty, krowy, konie, stogi, wrony, bociany, drzewa, krzyże