This Showcase presents a selection of past works from one of the 2015 Jerwood/Photoworks Awards winners Tereza Zelenkova.
I work predominantly with black and white photography, creating series based on ephemeral and poetic relationships between the individual images. My work often enquires into the possibility of myth within the rationally structured modern world, seeking to capture a timeless dimension where everything is assimilated into a unified essence beyond a linear notion of time. Each of my photographs is a result of subconscious choices, a mixture of chance and intention, which under closer inspection reveals a web of associations, weaving together a narrative of personal biography and my cultural heritage.
For the Jerwood/Photoworks Awards, the work I’m planning to undertake has arisen from my ongoing interest in places, predominantly within the territory of former Czechoslovakia, with histories that could be perceived as directly related to mysticism. I hope to create a portrayal of my home country that reflects its rich history, which I believe is imbued with elements of darkness and melancholy, occasionally seeping to the surface through dark fairytales, forgotten biographies, local histories and superstitions. There are many places and stories, which I think deserve to be documented, preserving something from their individual genius loci through photographs than not only describe and translate, but also enhance the poetics of a place.
For more information about the JPA15 Awards, please click here.
