Monika Wilczynska is a multi award winning filmmaker, writer and photographer published in print with an all consuming love for travel. Her work was exhibited at Cluster Photography and Print Fair at Ugly Duck Gallery in London in February 2020. She’s visited over 50 countries to chase the unfamiliar and document life through her lens. When asked about the motivation behind her work, she says: 

 

‘Photography and filmmaking are a way for me to celebrate being alive and catch understated, intimate moments of authenticity that would have otherwise gone by unnoticed. It is a way for me to be in love with everything and everyone without apology. It is a way to defy death, to punch apathy in the face and to have a naive trust in the world without it being too cliche. It is a way to define the interconnectedness that underlines all things - because every time I take a picture of a person, an animal, a place - I am them. It is the only way for me to be who I am without being labeled as ‘too much’. 

 

My work concentrates around beauty and meaning. But I don’t mean ‘beauty’ in the traditional, purely physical sense of the term. I mean the type of beauty that you can catch in the eyes of a person reuniting with the one they love after months of being apart. I mean the type of beauty that you feel when you look at a dog catching a big treat underneath the Christmas table. And the kind of beauty of good friends laughing so hard that snort comes out of their nose and their faces are red and they cannot breathe. But they’re so happy and their happiness is undeniably contagious. That is the beauty I aim to capture and share.’

 

Before pursuing a freelance career, Monika was the Head of Production for Virtual Reality start up Medical Realities. During her time with the company, she had produced and directed over 80 Virtual Reality 360 degree surgical training videos in the UK, US, India and Italy, including the world's first live streaming of an implant operation in VR. She was also chosen to be a part of the Mayor of London’s International Business Programme, during which she’s travelled alongside Sadiq Khan and his team to India, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Germany to represent the city of London, bring foreign investment and spread awareness about the benefits of Virtual Reality in the healthcare sector. 

 

Having graduated with a 1st class BA (Hons) degree in Film, TV and Digital Media Production from Regent’s University of London, Monika’s debut short film ‘Who I Am’ won 6 awards, including Best Director and Audience’s Choice and has been selected at over 20 Film Festivals worldwide, including Cannes, New York, Toronto, Montreal, Sedona, New Delhi and Uganda.

 

Monika’s photography work includes Portrait, Fashion, Live Music, Editorial, Event and Musical Theatre. She’s previously toured with musician Girli and shot Lana Del Rey, Christina Aguilera, James Bay, Barns Courtney and Mika amongst others. Her past freelance projects include working with HRH Princess Tessy de Nassau, Professors Without Borders, Desmond Tutu Foundation, VICE UK, Game of Thrones’ Lara Pradelska, Frieze Art Fair, London Fashion Week, Brandstand Communications and Ponderlily. During her year working with Momentum Performing Arts Academy, Monika’s shot, directed and edited an interview series with some of West End’s top performers, directors and talent agents, including Rachel Tucker (Come From Away), Fra Fee (Les Miserables), Jamael Westman (Hamilton), Paul Wooler (Head of Casting for Cameron Mackintosh Ltd) and Mary Hammond (Vocal Coach to Adele, Coldplay and Dido).