Magdalena Grela is an independent Polish documentary photographer whose long-term projects explore displacement, social exclusion, disability, and the everyday lives of people whose experiences are often overlooked.

Her approach is grounded in long-term engagement with the people she photographs. Rather than focusing on isolated moments, she follows lives as they unfold, returning to people over time and documenting the relationships, routines, and uncertainties that shape their everyday experiences. Her photographic practice has developed under the mentorship of British documentary photographer Patrick Ward.

Her ongoing project A Lens for Ukraine, begun in 2022, documents the lives of people displaced by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Initially focused on refugees in Poland, the project has expanded into Ukraine, where she continues to photograph Roma communities, including families she first met in Poland. Through these ongoing relationships, the work explores displacement not as a single event, but as an experience that continues to shape family life, identity, and the meaning of home.

Returning printed photographs to the people she portrays is an integral part of her practice. She sees this as a way of maintaining connections beyond the moment a photograph is taken, allowing the images to become part of the lives and memories of the people depicted.

Her work has been exhibited in Poland and internationally, including in exhibitions organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Kraków and Warsaw. In 2026, her series documenting Ukrainian Roma families received a Bronze Medal in Press/Feature Story at PX3 – Prix de la Photographie de Paris and was selected by Hossein Farmani for the curated State of the World exhibition in Paris. Her work was also recognised by the European Regional Jury of World Press Photo in 2026.

Her photographs have appeared in publications including Fotopolis, Dodho Magazine, and Primo Piano. One of her photographs was included in doctoral research at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, examining the resilience, community, and displacement of Roma refugees from Ukraine in Poland. Publications featuring her work are held in the collections of the National Library of Scotland, the British Library, the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and The National Archives in London.