"My mission is to create body of work with deeper purpose; philanthropist message, cultural portraits. I believe that drawing attention to subjects that need exposure will inspire people to get engaged and make a difference. My mission is to build bridges between people, cultures and continents..."
Artist's Statement
"I am Blanka Sadilkova, portrait and social documentary photographer and an environmental advocate, who likes to thought provoke, inspire, dare. Most of my personal projects center around travel, social documentary and portraiture. I grew up wanting to help the world and I preserved that dream. Helping is my life purpose and I chose photography to be my tool and my voice to direct attention to what I see as important. I aim to create bridges between people, continents, cultures in order to learn from each other. I point attention towards education, climate change, sustainable living, ecology, traveling, traditions, healthcare systems, stem cells, self development, family, connections between people, philanthropy and minimalism. Charity work is integral to my personal and professional ethos and where possible, I connect my work to give exposure to NGOs and individuals who need support. My assignments took me on pictorial journey, shooting editorial, commissions for various NGOs and working on personal projects. My photography has a purpose of sharing deeper message and through my work I am hoping to help people around the globe and draw attention to small NGOs and individuals who need support. I like to go inside communities and work with people, rather than just take photographs, I prefer to really get involved and get to know whom I am photographing, when ever it’s possible.
BIO
I hold masters degree in Documentary Photography & Photojournalism at Westminster University in London, England and I am a proud member of The Royal Photographic Society of United Kingdom and The Czech Federation of Photographic Art.
I was born in Czech Republic and I left to study to London, United Kingdom in 2001 and since I have been based between those two countries. I travel for corporate and private commissions worldwide and my main focus is in Czech Republic, California, United Kingdom and Caribbean, particularly Belize, where we are based significant amount of the year to work on developing a piece of land in the rainforest in Belize, planting trees to help stop deforestation while building eco cabin home and live fully off grid and connected to the nature, with my fiancé Shareef Mousa.
The projects I undertaken over the past 14+ years brought a lot of experience in professional photography and allowed me to build a very vast portfolio. I derive the greatest personal satisfaction from are those project through which I can make a difference, projects I belief in and which allow me to carry a philanthropic message. My assignments take me on pictorial journey and one cannot easily delineate my pictorial assignments as personal or professional. Often, my professional work has brought my greatest personal challenges and adventure and directly influenced the course of my life. I find balance between my personal projects and corporate work. You can hire me for editorials, advertising, PR, corporate events- conferences, lectures, talks, team buildings, signings, launches and private commissions- weddings, family portraiture, new born & children photography. I build professional relationships with my clients and many of my corporate clients stayed with me for over 14+ years and I’ve had the honor to document their private life also; growing families and notable events in life. My nische and my unique selling point is working with children and newborns; I know how to engage with them and keep them interested while having fun and not braking the house or studio down. My clients include international list of high profile personalities, royal families, artists and entrepreneurs. I work discretely when required to do so and I’m comfortable with celebrity clients. I love working with people of all different backgrounds, everyone always brings something new: entrepreneurs- established CEOs or start up owners, NGOs, influencers, bloggers, musicians, actors, scientists, motivational speakers, coaches. I love diversity and I am very flexible. I worked at the backstage of Oscars and the Grammies, but the biggest part of my work has always been working with people from real life, I love all the energy and emotion it brings. Life itself is always the most fascinating inspiration.
The projects undertaken over the past decade which I derive the greatest personal satisfaction from are those which allow me to capture the emotion and character of the moment in the most unusual settings around the world, from the high peaks of the Himalaya mountains in Nepal to the deepest jungles of Peru or Belize. You can buy prints directly from me. I recently put the body of my 12 years worth of work together and curated selection of images to share with you- my series expanded and my prices dropped during the pandanemic as I would like as many of you as possible to enjoy my photography. i curated series and call it GRATITUDE. Every image has it’s unique story and brings beautiful uplifting energy into your home and creates FENG SHUI tailored to your own specific needs. You can find them in the cultural portraits gallery. Choose with your heart and enjoy these healing images. I can produce any size and all prints in archival quality and signed.
Early LIFE
I was born into a loving family and I grew up in beautiful Behemian-Moravian Highlands, green countryside gem divided by clean rivers and pristine air. An unpolluted gem in the heart of the nature, surrounded by lakes and the deepest and eldest forests in the country.
But it was then part of an occupied country, Czechoslovakia, ruled by communists and restrictions. I was only 9 years old when we finally had Velvet Revolution in 1989, but I remember those uneasy times well and what my parents and grandparents had to encounter and endure- I know about it mainly through the stories they passed on to me, but I remember and witnessed a lot first hand too. My work has taken me to the back roads of China and Cuba, where I’ve experienced and captured pictorially the impact of communism on people’s daily lives. I feel a kindred connection in these situations- I come from a post-Communist country.
I really value my freedom of travel and speech, which I have the legal rights to, unlike my ancestors. I and I feel it’s my social responsibility to use my artistic voice to take part in bettering our world. My early life was very much influenced by both parents as well as my grandparents. My grandfathers particularly: Josef Jadrny, painter, musician and a photographer who taught me how to hold a brush before I know how to hold a spoon and he showed me the importance of light and timing. Unfortunately he passed away too early but we spent a lot of time together in his studio and while he worked on location- a nature of any kind. I inherited his genes and his precious analogue camera and his legacy lives on through me. The same goes for my grandfather, Josef Sadilek, whom, just like my dad, was a fascinating storyteller and an unpublished writer. my granddad wrote a memoir while being captured and in-prisoned and in Natzi camp it in Germany during the second word war. These memoirs were lost and burned but his stories live with me. My passion for storytelling and curiosity for understanding human nature and behavior came from our long philosophical conversations, which started early in my life. He thought me why it’s important to listen to people, being compassionate and learn about life through people’s stories and experience.
Eco-Message: Think before you print.
Non-governmental organizations I work with
CINEMAGIC
EDEN Mozambique
NEPAL WATER
PROJECT HOPE
ORPHANAGE NOVA VES
AAVia Foundation
Exhibitions
2009 "Shards" Zdar nad Sazavou, Czech Republic. Solo exhibition
2010 "New York" Gallery Zdar nad Sazavou, Czech Republic. Solo exhibition
2010 "Walls and Interpesonal Relationships" Gallery Pisecka Brana, Prague, Czech Republic. Group exhibition
2010 "Faces of Nepal" Theatre Zdar nad Sazavou, Czech Republic. Solo exhibition
2011 "Street Soul" London Chelsea Gallery, London, United Kingdom. Solo exhibition
2011 "Street Soul" Gallery Snezne, Czech Republic. Solo exhibition
2012 "Blanka's Wall" Private exhibition of my portraits and paintings in Belfast, Ireland
2013 "EDEN" Educational Centre in Mozambique, Africa. Solo exhibition
2013 "EDEN" Eden Mozambique center in Five, Scotland. Solo exhibition
2014 International Photography Festival, London, England. Group exhibition ]
2015 In Our Times, Ambika Gallery London, Group Show
2016 Altered States, Ambika Gallery London, Group Show
Projects
2006-2011 STREET SOUL
2008- present SHAOLIN WARRIORS
2009-2010 NEW YORK!
2009 THE FACE OF NEPAL
2011 LOST MAYAN CIVILISATION
2012 PERU, BOLIVIA AND CHILE
2013 EDEN, Mozambique
2013-2014 HOLLYWOOD DREAMING, LA CAlifornia
2014 STRONG MIND
2016-present STEM CELLS, THE JOURNEY
Published Books
1997 Collections of Poems of Talented Students, contribution
2015 Strong Mind, self published
2016 Stem Cells, The Journey, self published
Published Calendars
2009 "Faces of Nepal" and "On the Way", commissioned by FEB charted accountants
2009 "On The Way" commissioned by FEB charted accountants
2011 "New York" commissioned by FEB charted accountants
2011 "Jean Millar" life style and fashion shoot- collection of Ellis, Spanish wedding dresses designer. Shot in London, commissioned by Jean Millar
2012 "Mexico, Mayan Calendar" commissioned by FEB charted accountants
2012 "Jean Millar" life style and fashion shoot- collection of Ellis, Spanish wedding dresses designer. Shot in Prague, commissioned by Jean Millar
2013 "Peru" commissioned by FEB charted accountants
2014 "EDEN" commissioned by FEB charted accountants
Radio interviews
2011 Czech Radio Region: talk about my travels
2012 Czech Radio Region: talk about my travels
2019 Czech Radio Region: talk about my travels
TV
2005 Predej to dal... reportage, Czech TV Satt
2006 Predej to dal... reportage, Czech TV Satt
2010 Interview "Medailon", Czech TV Satt
2010 "New York" exhibition interview, Czech TV Satt
2011 Interview and behind the scenes at Infinity Images studio, Czech TV Satt
2013 Interview, Pepperdine University TV
Editorial
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, Belane Magazine,
CFFU Journal, London BABY Magazine, London Belgravia Magazine, BELANE magazine, BRITISH CARL Magazine, Hello!, OK! magazine
