HALL OF THE MIKOŁAJ REJ EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY, 12 Modrzewskiego Street, Bielsko-Biała
11 October 2025 (Saturday, 9:30 AM – 7:45 PM)
Wstęp na Maraton Autorski jest BILETOWANY. Program spotkań może ulec zmianie.
1ST ROUND OF DIAS SHOW – 9:30 AM
HEATHER O’DONNELL
USA
meeting at 10:00 AM
Psychologist (M.Sc.), certified artistic-systemic therapist (DGSF), and founding director of TGR The Green Room. A former internationally active concert pianist, she draws on her artistic background to develop innovative approaches at the intersection of mental health, creativity, and intercultural exchange. Her work supports individuals and organisations in navigating health recovery, personal growth, career transitions, and leadership challenges.
Heather has presented internationally on wellbeing, resilience, and systemic change in the arts, including at the Performing Arts Medicine Association (London, New York), the European Network of Cultural Centres, and On the Move. She has been a guest lecturer at Columbia University, the Lebanese Higher Conservatory of Music, and Rhodes University, among others. Since 2024, she serves on the board of the ENCC, working to foster sustainable health, development, and cultural transformation.
In this talk, psychologist and founding director of The Green Room Heather O’Donnell draws on her work with artists across disciplines to share stories of resilience and renewal. She explores how flexibility, sustainability, and mental wellbeing can support an artistic life that lasts – without sacrificing integrity.
The co-organizer of the meeting is the Institute of Urban Culture in Bielsko-Biała.
RÓBERT LÁSZLÓ BÁCSI
HUNGARY
meeting at 11:00 AM
Born in Budapest in 1978. The Prima Primissima Junior Award winner and a freelance photographer. He is interested mainly in documental photography and feels closest to portrait and social representation. He won numerous awards, like Hungarian Press Photo, André Kertész Grand Prize or Márton Munkácsi Award. In 2021, he was a Robert Capa scholarship holder. He received the József Pécsi Scholarship three times and was twice the Press Photographer of the year in Axel Springer Photo Competition. He received the second Prize in the NPPA Best Of Photojournalism International. His work has been published in several magazines, eg. in National Geographic, Hamu és Gyémánt, Reader’s Digest and in the daily Népszabadság.
SUSI BELIANSKA
SLOVAKIA / ITALY
meeting at 12:00 PM
A visual artist and photographer, who blends portraiture with intricate visual storytelling, weaving layers of emotion, light, and the passage of time.
She collaborates with leading international brands and renowned publications, including Vogue Italia, GQ, The Financial Times, and L’Officiel. Her work has been showcased at prestigious events such as the Xposure International Photography Festival in Sharjah (2024) and the Cannes Fashion Photography Festival.
In 2024, she was invited by the global brand Huawei to serve as a judge for the prestigious Huawei XMAGE Awards, an international photography competition.
Her achievements include winning the Nikon Talent Photo Contest (2013), with her work exhibited during Artissima and shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards (2012). She has also participated in renowned festivals such as the Ancona Photo Festival (2021) and the Grenze Photo Festival (2022).
TOBY BINDER
GERMANY
meeting at 1:00 PM
His work has received numerous awards, including the 6 Mois Prix de Photojournalisme and LensCulture in 2020, the Philip Jones Griffiths Award in 2018, and both the Sony World Photo Awards and Nannen Preis in 2017. That same year, he received an Honorable Mention at the UNICEF Photo of the Year, an achievement he repeated in 2021.
His photography has been published in Stern, Die Zeit, The Guardian, Le Monde, The Washington Post, Greenpeace Magazin, Amnesty Journal, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and other renowned outlets.
In 2019, his first photo book, Wee Muckers, was published by Kehrer.
MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER BROWN
USA
meeting at 2:00 PM
meeting will be translated into Polish sign language
A visual artist who challenges the boundaries of documentary photography, using imagery to spotlight major humanitarian issues. His work spans from the rise of eastern China to the Arab Spring, from conflicts in Eastern Congo (DRC) and Israel-Palestine to socioeconomic struggles in Cuba and homelessness in Los Angeles.
Raised in Skagit Valley, Washington, in a healthcare-oriented family, Michael was introduced to photography by his father, a physician who documented his work abroad. His parents took him and his sister to Mexico to volunteer in orphanages and hosted dozens of exchange students, shaping his global perspective.
After earning an MA from Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication in 2003, Michael funded his projects through commercial and editorial work, including long-term collaborations with National Geographic Magazine.
A former Magnum Photos associate, he pioneered the use of smartphones in conflict reporting. His documentation of the 2011 Libyan Revolution—blending photography, text, and audio—led to the award-winning Libyan Sugar, which won the Paris Photo First Book Award and the ICP Infinity Award for Artist’s Book. His unconventional approach, used in Libya, D.R. Congo, and beyond, has sparked debate, drawing criticism for his work on Skid Row, the George Floyd protests, and his AI-driven project 90 Miles.
Michael is currently co-directing a documentary on Cuba and writing a screenplay based on his experiences in D.R. Congo. His film work has been featured in HBO’s Witness: Libya (directed by Michael Mann) and other documentaries, including Hondros, The Prosecutors, and This Is Congo.
Beyond documentary photography, he collaborates with clients like Land Rover, the U.S. Army, and Chopard, excelling in challenging environments. With over two decades of experience across six continents, he has worked extensively in the Middle East and Central Africa, including years based in the DRC.
Michael creates cinematic yet authentic imagery, balancing natural light with rapid execution in both still and video productions. He is also experienced in over-the-shoulder cinematography and live-action directing.
As a speaker, he shares insights on global conflict storytelling, drawing from his extensive photography and film archive. His talks trace his journey from his childhood in Washington to two decades of documenting geopolitical crises worldwide.
ROBERTO MUFFOLETTO
USA
meeting at 2:20 PM
meeting will be translated into Polish sign language
AI Photography is not the problem… we are!
AI photography has attracted a lot of discussion in the field of image making. I will suggest in this presentation that AI is about the “image”, as all photography is. Is it the image maker or the image that is important? I believe that it is “we” who cause the disruption, the problem, the image is the image.
Roberto Muffoletto is director of VASA, an online international center for media studies with a focus on photography and the moving image (vasa-project.com). He is the past editor of Camera Lucida, a journal on the criticism of photography, Founder and director of CEPA Gallery, one of the first wave of photography galleries in the USA. Roberto holds a MFA in Visual Studies and a Ph.D in Educational Technology. His images have been exhibited and published internationally.
BREAK 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM
„A Break in the Clouds with Paweł Żak” at the BLOW UP PRESS stand
HERVÉ CHATEL
FRANCE
meeting at 4:00 PM
A self-taught photographer based in Paris. He discovered photography in 2012 through street photography, capturing the energy and atmosphere of urban life.
After 15 years in web design, he pursued training in documentary photojournalism at EMI-CFD in Paris in 2016. The following year, he won the Student Grand Prix Photo Reportage organised by Paris Match.
His work blends documentary and humanist photography, characterised by a sensitive and immersive approach. His photographs have been exhibited at several festivals in France, including Barrobjectif, Bourisp, and Les Nuits Photographiques de Pierrevert, where he presented a project on the Gardians of Camargue.
He was a finalist in prestigious competitions such as the LensCulture Street Photography Awards, the Miami Street Photography Festival, and the Brussels Street Photography Festival. His work has been published in various newspapers and magazines, reflecting his dedication to photojournalism and documenting contemporary social realities.
He is currently a member of the Hans Lucas photo agency.
ARISTIDE ECONOMOPOULOS
USA
meeting at 5:00 PM
A freelance photographer in the New York metropolitan area. For over two decades, Aristide was a staff photographer with NJ Advance Media, where he specialised in documentary essays and covered a variety of topics, from international conflict, urban violence, natural disasters, politics to local community news and sports to hog wrestling in Indiana.
An eight-time Photographer of The Year with the New York Press Photographers Association, he has won numerous awards including World Press Photo, Sony World Photo Awards, Siena International Photo Awards, Pictures of the Year International, National Press Photographers Association’s Best of Photojournalism, Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism and The Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award. In 2005, he was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting.
A portfolio of his work from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in Manhattan was awarded first place in Pictures of the Year International. Photo District News magazine named one of his photos from that day one of the decade’s 10 best documentary photos. His work is permanently displayed at The National September 11 Memorial Museum in Manhattan. His photographs have been exhibited at museums and galleries throughout the United States and internationally. He also lectured at numerous institutions and universities, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
A graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, he previously worked at the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois and the Dubois County Herald in Jasper, Indiana. Economopoulos resides in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA.
MARKUS JOKELA
FINLAND
meeting at 6:00 PM
Born 1952, lives in Helsinki. MA in social sciences at University of Tampere. Reporter 1983-1993. photo editor 1993-2001, photographer 2001-2019 at Helsingin Sanomat – the biggest Daily in Helsinki. Photojournalist of the Year in Finland 2003, 2015, 2016. World Press Photo, Daily Life 2. prize 1993 and 2002. World Press Photo Long Term Projects 3. prize 2017.
VIKTOR KOLÁŘ
CZECH REPUBLIC
meeting at 7:00 PM
Born in 1941 in Ostrava.
His interest in photography was sparked in childhood by his father—a photographer, cameraman, and owner of a photographic supply store. In 1964, he graduated from the Pedagogical Institute in Ostrava. He worked as a primary school teacher for a year and, after completing his military service, became a librarian.
Following the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, he emigrated to Canada, where he lived until 1973. There, he took on various jobs—working in a molybdenum mine, in steel mills as a labourer, as a photographic lab technician, a photojournalist for an Italian minority newspaper, and as an independent photographer.
Upon returning to Ostrava, he worked in steel mills and later as a stage decorator in a theatre. Since 1984, he has been working as a freelance photographer. In 1994, he began teaching at the Department of Photography at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he became a professor in 2005.
He has held numerous solo exhibitions, including at Optica Gallery in Montreal (1973), Cannon Gallery in Amsterdam (1984), Prague House of Photography (1991), Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco (1991), Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne (1998), Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava (1999), Leica Gallery in New York (2002), Bratislava City Gallery (2011), Moravian Gallery in Brno (2011), Gallery of the City of Prague (2013), and Sprengel Museum in Hanover (2015).
In 1991, he received the Mother Jones Foundation Award in the USA. His photographs are part of numerous prestigious collections, including those at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the Art Institute of Chicago, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
IREN MOROZ
UKRAINE
meeting at 8:00 PM
Visual philosopher, artist, and explorer of the boundaries of human experience.
Through photography, text, and conceptual imagery, Iren Moroz addresses pressing social themes such as inequality, domestic violence, self-destruction, and feminism. Her work is not merely a form of artistic expression — it is a precise anatomy of trauma and resistance.
She views the world as a labyrinth of broken systems and fractured lives. Within this chaos, she searches for a point of breakthrough — intimate, raw, painful, yet carrying the possibility of healing.
Moroz translates these experiences into a visual language of photography and graphic expression, creating spaces where images become acts of healing and signposts toward a deeper understanding of both the self and the world.
