DREAMERS
Our dreams are at their greatest in our youth, and they get even bigger if you dream them together. In his second solo exhibition, Kuba Freter explores how those dreams can create a community and documents the passionate spirit of optimism during adolescence in his raw and unpretentious way. He wants his photography to be real and honest, meeting his protagonists at eye level, as one of the crew – a crew in a youth culture where being real is a valuable asset. At the same time, this exhibition plays with the concept of realness, since some of the photos were taken during the documentation of a movie production. But a movie that came together rather naturally and blurs the lines between reality and fiction. But first things first.
It all started in 2017, when Freter went to Wrocław to visit friends. At the local spot, he met a skater who introduced himself as Kajtek, offered a joint, and invited him to an excessive party night. When opening his eyes again, Freter found himself in a room he already knew from his dreams. Days turned into weeks till he finally moved into the flat where he had woken up, which soon became the meeting spot for the whole scene. Then, in 2019, one of the crew opened a club just around the corner. Most of the skaters started working there, and they even built a wooden bowl into the club. Turbulent times with intense parties followed, but after two years, the dream was already over. The bowl had to be removed, and they also had to move out of the apartment. A classic reality check. But as luck would have it, on the closing night, director Krzysztof Skonieczny was there and discovered the bowl and the crew for his newest movie – so the story continued. Freter was hired to document the production, which is why this series of photos features a mix of real skaters and fake skinheads, real skating and fake slams (which in the end were more real than planned), as well as some photos from Freter’s place of residence in Cologne.
What all these photos have in common are the faces of young dreamers, full of passion, confusion, and lust for life. They are trying to figure things out and turn dreams into reality. Freter renounces colors so nothing distracts from the moment and adapts to these exciting times with sometimes grainy, blurred, or out-of-focus shots, transcending the energy of youth and all the big emotions during adolescence that everyone can relate to.
Kuba Freter (b. 1995) is a visual artist who lives and works in Cologne,Germany. Freter is a self-taught analog photographer inspired by the emotional weight of fleeting moments, the tension between solitude and belonging, and the subtle choreography of everyday life. His work reveals a quiet sensitivity to light, texture, and form – grounded in observation, yet deeply attuned to atmosphere and memory. Contemporary in his poetic restraint,his practice is rooted in walking, waiting, and witnessing – allowing the world to unfold without force. Through his use of analog processes, he constructs images that invite ambiguity and reflection, rendering the transient with clarity and care. His work is shaped by personal experience and a closeness to his subjects, often emerging from within the communities he documents. From the layered silences of urban streets to the visceral charge of youth culture, Freter’s photographs carry a sense of interiority – capturing what is emotionally present in what might otherwise go unnoticed. In his early years, he spent time moving through cities with a camera in hand, developing a visual language grounded in patience, intuition, and proximity. Freter has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions in Cologne, including Paroli (2023), And Miles To Go Before I Sleep (2024), and Nostalgia – Mosaic 2 (2024) at the Michael Horbach Stiftung. His second solo presentation, Dreamers (2025), traces the rise and dissolution of a skateboarding youth community in Wrocław – a subculture he was part of, captured from the inside. Blending documentary instinct with stage elements developed during a film production, the series holds together performance and real emotion, radiating longing, intimacy, and the search for freedom. Freter continues to explore themes of memory, transience, and collective becoming. His photographs move gently between stillness and energy, presence and disappearance – always returning to the question of how we hold onto moments that are already fading.
Opening:
19.09.2025 | 19:30
Opening hours:
Tuesday–Thurdsay | 10:00–18:00
Friday | 12:00–20:00
Saturday–Sunday | 12:00–17:00
Gallery of Modern Art The Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz