This feature is part of CULTURED’s 2026 Young Photographers list. This year’s list spotlights 14 artists aged 30 or younger from around the globe who are united by a relentless curiosity and an understanding that the photographer’s most important job is identifying what deserves to be seen.
AGE: 30
BASED IN: Łódź, Poland
Karolina Wojtas’s surreally playful work has been shown everywhere from New York to Athens. This year, it will make its way to Munich and Vevey, Switzerland, where the artist recently received a special mention from the Vevey Book Award.
What’s your creative philosophy?
In Polish, I always say “Baw się!” I think it sounds much better than “play.” I believe art should be like playing as kids—trying things, making mistakes, being curious, and not worrying about mistakes.
What questions does your work ask?
With every project, I’m trying to understand how the world works. First it was about childhood, then school, then siblings, then first love. I’m a very slow learner.
Who are your visual influences?
Honestly? I love bad amateur photographs! The best artist in the world for me is my granddad. He never called himself an artist, but he built furniture, strange machines, bicycles from lawnmowers, and spent years dreaming about building an airplane. That’s probably where my imagination comes from.
What do you want to achieve in your practice?
I’d love more people to visit galleries and museums without feeling intimidated. Art doesn’t have to be difficult or serious. It can be funny, emotional. I grew up in a small town where museums felt like another planet, so maybe I’m still trying to build the kind of place I wish had existed for me.
What’s the craziest situation you’ve shot in?
There have been way too many—I somehow attract them. I shot a Marni campaign inside an abandoned hotel with a crazy interior. Extremely weird! During the shoot, we found out it had been a brothel, which explained a lot. But I think mine happened in my hometown. Someone started a fake rumor that the Pope was coming to visit Jarosław. Hundreds of people showed up with banners and flags and waited for hours. Of course, the Pope never came. I absolutely loved photographing this historical event.
Meet more of CULTURED’s 2026 Young Photographers:
Many Photographers Have Been Nominated for a Pulitzer. This One Was Nominated for a Grammy.
Photographer Arielle Gray Wants Her Subjects to Be Unafraid of Softness
For Queer Photographer Ben Jastremski, ‘Every Image I Make Is the Permission I Was Never Given’
War Still Rages in Ukraine. Photographer Conall Kearney Is There to Document It.
Meet the 30-Year-Old Mongolian Photographer Documenting Changing Borders
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