Her photography can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. Rydet's first major exhibition of her Sociological Record took place in 2015 at the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, and the Jeu de Paume, Château de Tours. ĭuring the final years of her life, because she was too weak to travel with her camera, Rydet turned to photographic collage as a medium, and modified her photographs by cutting them up and adding buttons, fabric, and dried flowers. The project consists of thousands of informal black and white photographs taken in ordinary households throughout Poland, particularly from the regions of Podhale, Upper Silesia and the Suwałki area. In 1978, Rydet began her work on "Zapis Socjologiczny" ("Sociological Record"). In 1976, Rydet was awarded the Excellence de la Fédération Internationale de l´Art Photographique (EFIAP).
ZOFIA WOLFENSTEIN WIKI SERIES
In Czas prezemianija (The Passage of Time, 1963-1977), Rydet portrays the dignity and grace of old age in a series of intimate portraits. The same year she became a member of the Union of Polish Art Photographers. In 1965 the works in this exhibition were collected into a book edited by Wojciech Zamecznik. Rydet did not want to show children as a carefree stereotype, but rather as human. She also wanted to depict how societal issues and policies can affect children. Rydet's intention for Little Man, was to show that children had good and bad experiences in their life, just like adults. In 1961 Rydet had a major exhibition of photographs called Mały człowiek (Little Man).
She joined the Gliwice Photographic Society in 1954 and improved her skills. In mid-life she returned to her hobby of photography. As a young woman she had a number of occupations such as working for the Orbis Polish Travel Office and running a stationery shop. She attended the Główna Szkoła Gospodarcza Żeńska in Snopków.