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Anna Vaňková, a graduate of the Photography studio at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (2002), has been named Young Czech Photography Personality 2025. She received the award for her long-term artistic work and for her bachelor's project, the photobook Chewing on Glass and Other Miracle Cures, which had already earned her the Dean's Award at the Sutnar Faculty. The Young Czech Photography Personality award is presented annually by the Association of Professional Photographers of the Czech Republic in three categories to photographers who have made a significant contribution to the quality, development, or promotion of Czech creative photography in the Czech Republic or abroad. In her work, Vaňková explores auto-fiction and imaginative photographic narratives, often placing herself within the image. In an interview for INFO.zcu, she spoke about the award, her practice, and her studies.

Anna, how would you describe your award-winning project, Chewing on Glass and Other Miracle Cures?

At a conceptual level, my bachelor's project tells the story of a fictional cleansing cure involving the consumption of glass. This metaphor reflects a present shaped by rituals that often carry a sense of self-destruction, ways we try to escape the negative feelings produced by the pressures of contemporary life.

The photographic series depicts imaginative worlds, fictional spaces, and dream-like states experienced by the user of this cure. 
I combine an interest in stylized, surreal imagery with documentary elements.

How has your experience at Sutnarka shaped your current practice? Is there anything in particular you keep returning to or continue to build on?

What I remember most is the teachers' openness and support, which allowed me to explore different directions and discover the nuances of my own work. Without that, many of my projects, including my bachelor's thesis, would not have come into being. I also had the opportunity to meet truly unique individuals and classmates I could collaborate with. That is something I deeply miss after graduating.

And where are you based now? 

I was looking for a change, so since September 2025, I've been based in Prague and am still exploring my next direction. I haven't stopped creating, though - my photographic approach now extends, for example, to collaborations with musicians.

Recently, I developed the visual identity for the single "Forever Vacation" by Curveahead and photographed for Dmitrievna. One of the spreads from Chewing on Glass was also used as the album cover for Toward Oblivion by Exhausted Modern.

What do you see as the role of photography today?

If we broaden the question to the role of the artist in general, I feel that the sheer volume of images saturating public space, especially on social media, constantly pushes us to think certain things, buy certain products, or behave in specific ways. What matters most, in my view, is the ability to filter these influences, not to let them take over our inner world, and to maintain a critical distance.