For over four decades she has been involved in film, photography and cultural animation. In 1990 she emigrated to Canada. She currently lives in Sopot and Ottawa.
Ela is a graduate of the University of Gdańsk with a Master’s degree in economics, although her first profession was a photographer. While abroad, she studied art history in Bergen (Norway), and in Canada she pursued education in traditional photographic techniques at the Algonquin college in Ottawa. She deepened her knowledge during numerous photo training courses and workshops.
Ela has been photographing for 40 years. She is a vagabond with a camera in his pocket, always on the go. She deals with documentary photography faithful to the philosophy of the decisive moment. The camera in her hand is a search tool. She presented her work at many individual and collective exhibitions, including Canada, Mexico, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Colombia (the latter at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bogota).
In 2005, she won the Grand Prix in the International Biennale, Women the Image Creators competition in Guadalajara, Mexico. In 2019, she was invited as an editor/photographer to collaborate on a book about Polish film directors, which was published in Argentina (“Dialogos con el cine polaco”). Ela also takes an active part in Polish photography groups, she has recently joint the group of Photographic Mastermind, led by Michał Mrozek (https://pokochajfotografie.pl). She is also a member of the Polish Women Photographers group, the forum of Polish women photographers on FB (https://www.facebook.com/PolishWomenPhotographers/).
In September 2021, she released her first photo album “Sopot Beach”, which is a collection of photos taken during the pandemic on the beach in Sopot.
He is also involved in cinema. In 2008, she produced a film for Canadian television “And who are you?”, dealing with the issue of national identity in Canada. Her work expands beyond the traditional framework, in the field of multi-media she has realized a flagship Canadian project “The red couch tour” to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada. Together with her project partner, Piotr Sobierajski, she traveled all over Canada with a red couch and invited Canadians to answer one question “What does Canada mean to you?” The project was funded by at the Government of Canada grant. Subsequently as a film producer, she also produced a documentary about the red couch tour.
In 2019, she was invited to the jury as the chairperson of the Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights in Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
As a culture animator, in 2018 she organized a Polish-Canadian panel on women in film, presented as part of the “All About Freedom” Festival at the European Solidarity Center in Gdańsk.
Since 2004 she has been a resident in Sopot, where she chairs the Edukacja.Kultura.Sztuka Foundation.
List of Exhibitions / Photo Projects
2022 “Capslove story” Solo show, Gallery of the Gdynia Film Center, Gdynia Poland
2021 “Sopot Beach”, Photo Album
2020 Editor / co-author of the photo for the publication about Polish cinema, published in Argentina, “Diálogos con el cine polaco”
2017 “Moscow-Berlin Penetration”, Contemporary Art Museum, Individual Exhibition with co-author Marek Poźniak, Bogota, Colombia
2017 “Moscow-Berlin Penetration”, New Art Festival “Labyrinth”, Słubice
2016 “Moscow-Berlin Penetration”, individual exhibition with co-author Marek Poźniak, Polish Union of Photographers, Pusta Gallery, Jaworzno.
2016 “Retratos en Petroleo”, Festival of Photography, Vladivostok, Russia
2015 “Retratos en Petroleo”, Individual Exhibition, Latin American Institute, Moscow, Russia
2013 “Moskoviana”, Individual Exhibition, Gallery at the Institute of International Literature, Moscow, Russia
2012 Gallery East-West, Collective Exhibition, Moscow, Russia
2012 “Portrait”, Collective Exhibition, Post-competition exhibition, Koło, Poland
2011 “Portrait”, Post-competition Collective Exhibition, Trzcianka, Poland
2010 Festival X, Collective Exhibition. Atelier Ville Marie, Ottawa, Canada
2010 “Jazz Seen” – Collective Exhibition, Ela Kinowska, Patrick Hollier, Jean Marc Carisse, Photography Gallery Jean-Marc Carisse, Ottawa, Canada
2009 Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Collective Exhibition of Polish Artists under the patronage of the Polish Embassy in Canada
2009 “Polish Artists in Canada” Barry’s Bay Gallery, Collective Exhibition under the patronage of the Polish Embassy in Canada
2007 “Mexicana – Tequila, Tacos y Palomas”, Individual Exhibition, Gallery, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico en Cánada, Gatineau, Quebec
2007 “Portrait”, Collective Exhibition, Trzcianka, Poland
2007 “Kanadiana”, Individual Exhibition, Budapest, Hungary
2007 1st Ottawa Photography Festival, Collective Exhibition, Canada
2007 “Spring – Nostalgia”, Collective Exhibition, Ottawa, Canada
2007 “Is it all right?” Collective Exhibition, Ottawa
2007 “Small Pictures with Big Heart Ottawa”, Individual Exhibition, Charity Action, Ottawa, Canada
2006 “Naked Walls Exhibition”, Collective Exhibition, Canada
2006 Homeless Gallery, Collective Exhibition, San Jose, Costa Rica
2006 “Serbia and Montenegro”, Individual Exhibition, Ottawa, Canada
2006 “Kanadiana”, Solo Exhibition, Guadalajara, Mexico
2006 “California Mon Amour”, (fundraising) Solo Exhibition, Ottawa, Canada
2005 “Kanadiana” Museum of Sombor, Individual Exhibition, Sombor, Serbia
2005 “Naked Walls Exhibition”, Collective Exhibition, Chelsea, Quebec
2005 Mayor’s Arts Festival, Collective Exhibition. City Hall, Ottawa
2005 Homeless Gallery, Floats Umbrellas, Collective Exhibition, New York City
2005 International Biennale, Women the Image Creators, Guadalajara, Mexico – GRAND PRIX AWARD
2005 “Kanadiana”, Individual Exhibition. IVAS Photo Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro
2005 “Kanadiana”, Canada Culture Days, Individual Exhibition, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
2005 Foreign Affairs Canada, Collective Exhibition, Charity Action. Canada
2004 “Sepia Moods”, Individual Exhibition, FiveSenses Café, Ottawa
2004 “Slovakiana”, Individual Exhibition, Embassy of Slovakia, Ottawa
2004 “Portrait”, Post-competition Collective Exhibition, Trzcianka, Poland
2004 Department of Foreign Affairs, Collective Exhibition, Charity, Ottawa, Canada
2004 Sepia Moods, Individual Exhibition, London Café – British Council. Bratislava, Slovakia
2002 “Portrait”, Post-competition Collective Exhibition, Trzcianka, Poland
2002 “Mai en Provence”, Solo Exhibition, Timothy’s, Ottawa, Canada
2001 Department of Foreign Affairs, Collective Exhibition, Charity
2001 “Observations”, Individual Exhibition, Grabbajabba, Ottawa, Canada
2000 “La Pologne Retrouveé”, Individual Exhibition, Polish Consulate in Montreal
2000 “Awaken Memories of Poland”, Individual Exhibition, The Farenheit Art Café, Ottawa, Canada
2000 “La Pologne Retrouveé”, Individual Exhibition, Center Jacques Auger, Hull, Quebec
2000 “Old Havana”, Collective Exhibition, Karsh-Masson Gallery, City Hall, Ottawa
1999 “Awaken Memories of Poland”, Individual Exhibition. the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1999 “Cuba Impromptu”, Individual Exhibition. Gallery Chateau Cartier, Aylmer, Quebec
1999 “Visions of Europe”, Collective Exhibition, the National Arts Center, Ottawa, Canada
1999 “Portion du temps et l’espace”, Collective Exhibition, Ecomusée, Hull, Quebec
1998 “Visions of Europe”, The National Arts Center, “, Collective Exhibition, Ottawa, Canada
1997 “Language of the Image” The Department of the Environment, Individual Exhibition, Hull, Quebec
1995 “A Photographic Journey”, Solo Exhibition, A&A Gallery, Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
1994 Sounds of Autumn “Individual Exhibition A&A Gallery, Ottawa, Solo Show
1994 “Canadian Heritage”, Collective Exhibition, The World Exchange Plaza, Ottawa, Canada