Prague Under the Mask, Prague, 2020

This photo represents the daily lives of inhabitants during a pandemic in a form of a photo diary. Despite fears of infection and in accordance with all anti-coronavirus measures, we experience our daily rituals, personal and civic defiance as well as human solidarity.

For me, photography and experimental films are the creative means of self-expression. Through the expressive images I create, I try to understand myself and reflect my inner feelings in a completely personal vision of the world around me. The clarity that comes from this exploration allows me to examine the fragments of life in its abstract form and communicate with people with whom I would have been otherwise very distant. My goal is to sensitize and to photograph at the right moment stories and details that other people overlook. In my work I focus on humanity. Here, I am focused on his existential questions and his relation to the environment in which he lives. I am fascinated by humans filled with emotions, lonely, doubtful and searching for his or her place in society. I photograph not only the face and body fragments, but also how humans fit in the landscape and urban agglomerations.

Jana Hunterova lives in Prague and is a Czech award-winning freelance photographer and a doctoral program student at the Institute of Creative Photography of the Silesian University in Opava. Her focus is not only as a photographer but also on the history of photography as well as curatorial and lecturing activities. She has recently begun experimenting with short films, several of which have garnered acclaim. She is a member of the international art cooperative Urban Dialogues and can be found at http://janahunterova.com/.

Jana Hunterova’s photo is featured in Mark Blickley’s ekphrastic poem, City Sidewalk, Christmas Eve 2020