Jitka Hanzlová fled from Czechoslovakia to West Germany in 1982, where she studied photography in Essen. Her biography shapes the central themes of her work: exile, memory, and identity. The catalog for the ALBERTINA exhibition features ten of her most important series, including one that is being published for the first time: Rokytnik (1990–94) is dedicated to the artist’s home village of the same name, Forest (2000–05) to the forest of her childhood. Later, she created portrait series in an urban environment, such as Bewohner (1994–96) and Female(1997–2000), which explore the relationship between the individual and their surroundings.
Hanzlová, born in 1958, is one of the most internationally renowned contemporary photographers. Throughout her distinguished career, she has received numerous major international awards, including the European Photography Award and the Paris Photo Prize for Contemporary Photography.
