I am a biologist by education (Mikołaj Kopernik University in Toruń). I live in Suwałki, a town in northeastern Poland, called "The Polish pole of cold". I have been taking photographs for over 40 years. The main subjects of my photographic interests is the world of tiny things. That is why I dedicate most of time to macrophotography and photomicrography. Since 2009 I devoted myself to photography through the microscope. However I took my first black and white micrographs in 1980 I gave it up for many years because of equipment and material difficulties of that time.

When digital revolution in photography came to me I returned to my former interests and taking photographs through the microscope became the passion of my life.

The photomicrography is very special kind of photography. It allows to explore areas unavailable to most of people. By my photographs I want to discover these hidden worlds to the others. I try to take my micrographs not only as the documents. I love taking them to show my feelings. I very often consider photomicrography as the art and its subjects as the models. I try to show the entire beauty of the micro universe.

In my photomicrography I use various techniques of illumination, from the most popular bright field, through dark field, oblique, Rheinberg, polarization, DIC, phase contrast, "epi" to combined techniques. Thanks to these special techniques of illumination my micrographs distinguish extremely rich colours.

I use of a high quality equipment. The microscope is Olympus BH-2. The cameras are Pentax K-1 (FF camera, 24 x 36 mm sensor) and Pentax K-5 (APS-C sensor).

My micrographs were published in many publishers in Poland and abroad. Thanks to my cooperation with some photo agencies (Science Photo Library, Science Source, Diomedia, Bioshots) my works find the receivers all over the world. I am an author about 100 publications on photography (mostly photomicrography), nature and popular microscopy. In 2015 was published my book on macro photography and photomicrography tittled "Blisko, coraz bliżej. Od fotografii zbliżeniowej do mikrofotografii" (Helion 2015, only in Polish).

I am a multiple finalist of the competitions devoted to photomicrography: Nikon Small World, Olympus BioScapes and Close-up Photographer of The Year ("Micro" category)
In 2018 in recognition of my achievements in photomicrography, I was included by the organizers of the Nikon Small World competition into the Masters of Microscopy.

My micrographs are presenting not only in various publications but also at individuals and collective exhibitions in Poland and abroad. I also realize lectures on various aspects of the micro world and micrographs displays. Apart from taking photographs I conduct classes in my Macrophotography and Photomicrography studio in Suwalki Culture Centre. I also conduct work shops on macrophotography and photomicrography at my home. For those who are interested in my work shops, lectures, micrographs displays or buying my micrographs I invite to click Offer.

Apart from this site my photographs can be also found on my fanpage and web page marekmis.pl.

My another great passion is light microscopy and hand making field miniature microscopes. I built two such microscopes. One of them was presented to broader audience by prof. Brian Ford from Cambridge University during annual Chicago Inter Micro 2006 ("A portable Microscope From Poland. Brian J. Ford, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University).

My achievements

Exhibitions, micrographs displays, lectures:

1. "Photo-Eko'96" - collective, after contest exhibition, Poznań, Poland
2. "Autumn Salon of Photography' 97" - collective exhibition, Suwałki, Poland
3. "Suwałki Salon of Fine Art 2001" - collective exhibition, Suwałki, Poland
4. "Triennial of Suwałki Fine Art 2004" - collective exhibition, Suwałki, Poland
5. "Inhabitants of a Drop of Water", 2010 - individual exhibition, Museum of Wigry, Poland
6. "Vandens Laso gyventojai" 2010 - individual exhibition, Kaunas, Lithuania
7. "Olumpus BioScapes 2010" - after contest collective exhibition, USA, Canada
8. "Painted With the Microscope", 2011 - individual exhibition, ROKIS Suwałki, Poland
9. "Nikon Small World 2012", - after contest collective exhibition, USA, Canada
10. "Micro Fascinations", 2012 - individual exhibition, Museum of Earth, Warsaw, Poland
11. "Inter Photo Festival Białystok 2013" - collective exhibition, Białystok, Poland
12. "See Me - The Story of The Creative 2013" - collective exhibition, New York, USA
13. The Lecture and the display of micrographs", 2014 - Kopernik Museum of Science, Warsaw, Poland
14. "Beyond the bulb" The year of light 2015 - collective exhibition, various countries of the world
15. "PAcamera 30 Years, Photographs", 2015 - collective exhibition, Suwałki, Poland
16. "Micrographs display for VII Collegge in Suwałki", 2015 - Suwałki, Poland
17. "Suwałki Salon of Fine Art", 2015 - collective exhibition, Suwałki, Poland
18. "Travels Through the Microworlds", 2015 - micrographs display, Museum of Wigry, Poland
19. "The Nature of the Micro Universe", 2015 - Rozmarino Gallery, Suwałki, Poland
20. "The Secrets of the Micro Universe", 2016 - Cultural Centre in Raczki, Poland
21. "II SoulWałki Gospel Workshop" - 2016 - micrographs display during concert, Suwałki, Poland
22. "The Photography Angle" - 2016 - collective exhibition, Great Britain
23. "The Creators Deserve To Be Seen" - 2016 - collective exhibition, Times Square, New York, USA
24. "The Art of Nature”, 2016 – collective exhibition, Toruń, Poland
25. „Basis of photomicrography and photography in amateur practice” – 2017 r. The lecture for the teachers, Wigry National Park, Poland
26. "The colours of life", 2017 - individual exhibition accompanying to XIX Polish Hepatological Society, Gołębiewski Hotel, Mikołajki, Poland
27. "III Suwałki Salon of Art 2017", - collective exhibition, Suwałki, Poland
28. "Lahore Science Festival 2017" - collective exhibition, Lahore, Pakistan
29. "Suvalku Dailininku ir Fotografu Paroda" - 2017 - collective exhibition, Alytus, Lithuania
30. "Makro - Mikro" 2018 - workshops in Cultural Centre in Krzywe
31. "Art and Science International Photo Contest 2018" - after contest collective exhibition, Romania and Greece
32. Micrograph selected by curators of Your Daily Photograph for sale in Duncan Miller Gallery in Santa Monica, California
33. "Fotofestival Schiedam" - 2018 - collective exhibition, Schiedam, Netherlands
34. "Photomicrographs from the Tree of Life" - 2019  - collective exhibition, St. Ambrose University, Iowa, USA
35. "Images from Science 3" - 2019 - collective exhibition, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, USA
36. "Journey across the microworlds" - 2019 - individual exhibition as part of the Science Festival, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland
37. "IV Suwałki Salon of Art" - 2020 - collective exhibition, Suwałki, Poland
38. "PAcamera Club. Photographs of 2015 - 2020" - collective exhibition, Suwałki, Poland
39. "II Festiwal Podróżniczy Powsinóg - Podróże Bliskie i Dalekie" - Presentation of my micrographs titled "Journey across the microworlds" - 2020 - Buda Ruska, Poland
40. "The Journey across microworlds" - 2022 - individual exhibition, Białystok Cultural Ceter, Poland

Competitions:

1. Photo Eko, Poznań'96 - distinction for macrograph "We are flying out for a while"
2. Olympus BioScapes 2009 - honorable mention for micrograph "Cymbella"
3. Nikon Small World 2009 - distinction for micrograph "Closterium"
4. Nikon Small World 2009 - distinction for micrograph "Micrasterias"
5. Olympus BioScapes 2010 - honorable mention for micrograph "Elodea canadensis"
6. Nikon Small World 2011 - distinction for micrograph "Spirogyra"
7. Nikon Small World 2012 - distinction for micrograph "Nettle trichomes"
8. Nikon Small World 2012 - 6 th place for micrograph "Cosmarium near Sphagnum leaf"
9. Olympus BioScapes 2012 - honorable mention for micrograph "Various species of desmids"
10. Olympus BioScapes 2012 - honorable mention for micrograph "Sphagnum leaf cells"
11. Olympus BioScapes 2013 - honorable mention for micrograph "Netrium and Staurastrum near Sphagnum leaf"
12. Nikon Small World 2013 - distinction for micrograph "Micrasterias Americana"
13. Neutral Density Photography Awards 2016 – 1 th place in category „Nature – other” for set of micrographs : „Wonders of the microworld”
14. Neutral Density Photography Awards 2016 – honorable mention in category „Fine art – abstract” for set of abstract micrographs: „The odd cities by night”
15. Art of Nature, IX International Festival of Photography and Nature Film, Toruń 2016 – distinction for micrograph "Amoeba" in festival competition „On the Trails of Nature”
16. Nikon Small World 2016 - 6 th place for micrograph "Air bubbles formed from ascorbic acid"
17. Nikon Small World 2016 - honorable mention for micrograph "Caudal gill of ..."
18. Nikon Small World 2016 - honorable mention for micrograph "Leg of a water boatman"
19. Nikon Small World 2017 - 16 th place for micrograph "Parus major down feather"
20. Nikon Small World 2018 - distinction for micrograph "Cyclop"
21. Art and Science International Photo Contest 2018 - 1 th place for micrograph "Ascorbic acid"
22. Close-Up Photographer Of The Year (CUPOTY) 2019 - 1 th place in Micro category
23. Nikon Small World 2019 - 15 th place for micrograph "Pregnant Daphnia magna"
24. Nikon Small World 2019 - Image Of Distinction for micrograph "Bryozoans"
25. Wiki Science Competition 2019, Polish stage - 1 th place in microscopic photographs category
26. Wiki Science Competition 2019, Internationsl stage - 1 th place in microscopic photographs category
27. Close-Up Photographer Of The Year (CUPOTY) 2020 - 2 th place in Micro category
28. Nikon Small World 2020 - honorable mention for micrograph "Daphnia sp. ..."
29. Microscopy Today Micrograph Awards Competition 2021, 2 of 3 allowed photographs qualified to the finalists
30. Close-Up Photographer Of The Year (CUPOTY) 2021 - 3 th place in Micro category
31. Wiki Science Competition 2021, Polish stage - 3 th place in microscopic photographs category for the image "Respiratory system in damselfly caudal gill"
32. Wiki Science Competition 2021, Polish stage - distinction in microscopic photographs category for the image "Hunting microscopic worm"
33. Wiki Science Competition 2021 - international stage - international runner-up for the image "Tracheae and tracheoles in mayfly larval gills"
34. Wiki Science Competition 2021 - international stage - international runner-up for the image "Polyphemus, a kind of predatory cladoceran with eggs"
35. ND Awards 2022 Competition, 2nd place in Nature, Other category for micrograph titled "Between moss leaves"
36. ND Awards 2022 Competition, Honorable Mention in Fine Art Abstract category, for micrograph titled "Indian village"
37. ND Awards 2022 Competition, Honorable Mention in Nature, Other category for micrograph titled "Church organ"
38. ND Awards 2022 Competition, Honorable Mention in Nature, Other category for micrograph titled: "Hunting hydra"
39. Microscopy Today 2022 Micrograph Competition - 1th place in open category
40. Close-Up Photographer Of The Year (CUPOTY) 2022 - 1 th place in Micro category

Cooperation and publishing:

1. Participation in a radio program (RDC - Radio Dla Ciebie, Radio For You) - "The Nature Teacher", 30 th of September 2018
2. "The Hidden World - My look at Photomicrography" (article in "The CanadianNature Photographer" web site)
3. "The Life in a Water Drop" (article in quarterly Wigry National Park magazine)
4. Polish Hepatological Society - XIX Conference, Mikołajki (artistic liver micrographs)
5. "Close, closer and closer. From close-up photography to the photomicrography" (my author book, published in 2015 by Helion)
6. "Wiedza i Życie" (article on modern light microsopy)
7. "Foto" (three articles on photomicrography)
8. "Fotokurier" (13 articles on photomicrography)
9. "Amateur Photographer" (ilustrated interview, Wielka Brytania)
10. "Przyroda Polska" (over 90 articles on nature and nature sightseeing)
11. Science Center Kopernik (lecture on photomicrography and work shops on photomicrography for employers)
12. Forestfilm, Warszawa (micrographs and macrophotographs for the films from the cycle "Las Story" and for the CD cover to the film "Small Life")
13. Regis company, Kraków (photomicrographs of colds for brand callendar)
14. Medical publisher Czelej, Lublin (micrographs for exhibition banners)
15. Foundation for Balanced Development, Warsaw (micrographs to the book "At Vistula")
16. School and Pedagogic Publishers, Warsaw (micrographs to the book "On the Trails of the Imagination 6")
17. "Your Holiday", Białystok (articles on nature and sightseeing)
18. Digital Camera Polska (article on photomicrography)
19. BE&W - photo agency (Warsaw)
20. East News - photo agency (Warsaw)
21. Science Photo Library - photo agency (Great Britain)
22. Science Source - photo agency (USA)
23. BioShots (USA) - photo agency (USA)
24. "Digifoto Pro" - interview for Dutch photo magazine Digifoto Pro in realtion to Fotofestival Schiedam, Netherlands
25. Rochester Institute of Technology - micrographs choosen to the collective exhibition: "Images From Science 3"
26. Palo Alto High School (USA) - micrographs and short text in C Magazine, arts & culture. Issue No.4, Vol.7, Feb.2019
27. Procter & Gamble (USA) - micrographs of vitamin B3 to P&G order
28. Futura Science (France) - profile on their website as a photographer in "Science" division and micrographs of crystals
29. Kohe (Estonia) - coffee micrographs (for coffee wrapping)
30. Fermentis, Lesaffre (France) - yeast micrographs made to order