Gains of loss

1982: In her mid-20s, Jitka Hanzlová, who worked in television in Prague, fled alone from the Czechoslovak Republic to West Germany. The escape brought her freedom, but also restrictions in a foreign country with a foreign language. From 1987 to 1994, Hanzlová studied visual communication with a focus on photography in Essen and found a new, universal language. Within a very short time, her biographically colored photographic series about exile, memory and the search for identity made her internationally known. In a mixture of sensuality and objectivity, Hanzlová explores how new experiences affect memories and pave the way for new perspectives. In the artist's first solo museum exhibition in Austria, numerous works from her best-known series are on display, including Rokytnik (1990-1994), Bewohner (1994-1996), Female (1997-2000) and Forest (2000-2005). The exhibition Jitka Hanzlová: Identities can be seen at the ALBERTINA in Vienna from July 11 to November 2.

Hanzlová (*1958) is one of the most internationally renowned photographers of our time. She was a visiting professor at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts and the Zurich University of the Arts and has received numerous awards for her work: For example, she received the prestigious Otto Steinert Prize in 1993, while still a student, then the European Photography Award in 1995 and the Paris Photo Prize for Contemporary Photography in 2007. Hanzlová's photos are always in portrait format, in color and not post-processed.