Michal Zajaček
Since 2009, Michal Zajaček has worked as an independent professional photographer. His photographic practice spans documentary, cultural and artistic projects, often focusing on communities, traditions and forms of cultural memory that are gradually disappearing from contemporary life.
He has worked internationally, including documentary photography projects in Guatemala for the American non-profit organisation Mayan Families. For many years, he has also been dedicated to documenting traditional Chinese tea culture, while simultaneously recording the transformation of the Slovak countryside and the last traces of traditional rural life.
As a photographer, he contributed to the publication Gešajovské poviedky and conceived and created the photographic book One Hundred Years of Zálesie, a visual chronicle of local history and identity.
Since 2018, in collaboration with artist Miloš Karásek, he has participated in thematic projects for healthcare institutions in the Czech Republic. For these projects, he created a series of harmonising photographic works using infrared photography, exploring the relationship between image, environment and human well-being.
Since 2021, he has also been an active co-author of Karásek’s Instagram-based project Intimita (Intimacy), contributing to its visual and conceptual development.
Together with Karásek, he produces short poetic video works that document and reinterpret the worlds of both contemporary and historical artists. These projects have included works inspired by figures such as Jan Švankmajer and Jiří Wolker, combining documentary observation with a highly imaginative visual language.
In 2024, their collection of seven short films dedicated to objects from the literary estate of Jiří Wolker received the Grand Prize at the Musaion Festival in the Czech Republic, recognising the originality and artistic quality of their collaborative work.
Through photography, video and interdisciplinary projects, Michal Zajaček continues to explore the intersections of memory, culture, landscape and visual storytelling, creating works that preserve fragile moments of human experience and cultural heritage.
