BIO
„Kung Fu lives in everything we do…
It lives in how we put on the jacket, how we take off the jacket.
It lives in how we treat people.“
(Karate Kid)
„Vesna Walden is a photographer, painter, and poetry author. She was a notable figure in Prague’s alternative art scene during the 1990s, a former photomodel, and a determined individual with a richly varied life, travel, and professional history. Vesna spent her youth in Prague in the innocent, post-revolutionary years, a time filled with hope and authentic human connection, surrounded by legends of the art world. Perhaps it was this vibrant background that later drew her to the quiet of urbex and nature.
Vesna Walden is a photographer whose urban exploration (urbex) work quietly transforms abandoned spaces into visual poetry. Rather than simply documenting decay, Vesna approaches each location as a living character—one with its own silent stories and unique atmosphere. Her photographs are imbued with a sense of nostalgia and gentle melancholy, inviting the viewer to imagine the lives that once animated these forgotten places.
Even in the absence of people, her images pulse with a lingering human presence. Forgotten shoes, tattered curtains, and faint graffiti become subtle clues to past lives, while the occasional silhouette deepens the emotional impact. Her careful compositions use light, shadow, and geometry to draw the eye, creating depth and highlighting the beauty that remains in neglect.
What sets her work apart is her willingness to move beyond strict documentation. Through thoughtful digital editing and collage, Vesna enhances color, contrast, and mood, often creating a dreamlike or surreal quality. This artistic approach transforms reality into metaphor, making each photograph resonate on a personal level.
Her portfolio is as varied as it is evocative, ranging from grand, decaying mansions to intimate glimpses of peeling wallpaper or sunlight streaming through broken windows. This diversity keeps her work fresh and unpredictable, while always maintaining a respectful and reflective tone.
Vesna Walden’s urbex photography offers more than a record of forgotten places—it reveals the poetic soul within them, crafting images that linger in the mind and invite quiet contemplation.
She delights in melodious, poetic titles for her projects and series, such as:
Silence and Komorebi (Light & Shadows),
Above All There Are The Pigeons (Birds),
Fashion Meet the Street (Fashion),
The Door & The Wall (Structures, Doors, Facades), and
Trace of Space (Architecture).
She often travels to different countries to create free-of-charge “Portraits in Environment” for women facing difficult life circumstances. She listens to or reads their stories—usually sent to her by email—and, as a quirky condition, chooses a costume for the woman’s photo session in a local second-hand shop. She calls this series „Urbex Women,“ explaining the title by saying, “These women are also like abandoned urbex—yet still alive, and full of mysterious inner beauty, just as places and people marked by the wounds of time and life.” She always finishes the session by taking a joint photograph with her model. A major theme in her work is the role of women in society.
Her numerous self-portraits, often humorous and symbolic, are also worth mentioning—sometimes reminiscent of the work of Vivian Maier. Vesna counts among her inspirations Josef Koudelka, Bohdan Holomíček, Tomki Němec, Václav Jirásek, Nguyen Phuong Thao (compatriots), Helmut Newton, Sebastião Salgado, Nan Goldin, and others. She loves collage—her inspiration in this field is Jiří Kolář—and finds creative stimulus in comics, graphic novels, and paintings from artists such as Toyen, Toy Box, and Ryo Tatsuki.
Vesna is passionate about Japan and the Japanese language, Oslo and Norwegian, Dublin’s parks, sunny weather, shadows, and the sound of birds’ wings overhead, as well as the feeling of warm wind in her hair, vintage cars and authentical human beings. She formerly taught at a film club at at College of Journalism, with a particular passion for sci-fi—especially stories about time travel. She photographs as a diary—because she cannot do otherwise.
Her son is her best friend.“
David Lowder