Ewa Cwikla (1961) is Polish by birth, but has lived and worked in the Netherlands for decades. Her first experiences with photography go back to Poland when she was 15. At home she found an old Zenith camera with which she experimented to her heart's content in the after-school photography club of her high school and slowly developed her own view of photography.
In the early 80s - she is in her early 20s - Ewa moves from Poland to the Netherlands, where she works for a photographer in Schagen. In 1985 she took the opportunity - after 3 sleepless nights - to take over both the studio and the photo specialty store from her employer.
Ewa is developing as a distinctive photographer, but retail is stalling. Reason for her to sell her photo specialty store in 2015 and from that moment on to focus fully on photography. She sets up a photo studio at home and then fills her days with assignments, workshops and making free work. Now - more than 4 years later - as a Fine-art photographer, Ewa mainly makes free work. In a completely unique way, in a unique 'atmosphere'.
One of the typical style features of Ewa's work is the nostalgic, almost Rembrandtian light. Ewa is always looking for this nostalgia because - as she says herself - 'this nostalgic atmosphere gives me a certain amount of peace in this increasingly faster and more hectic world. I hope this has the same effect on the person looking at my images. ' Today, post-processing of an image is also an important part of 'your own signature'. For that reason, Ewa develops its own filters in Photoshop. In the constant urge to develop herself - without being limited to a style - Ewa opens her soul and senses to be inspired. An old film or painting… it can light up just like that, which is then translated into an image with '
