The photographs of Iva Zimova show that an affiliation with a certain nation, race, or social group is marginal when compared with the many factors that unite people. Zimova was born 1956 in the town of Roudnice nad Labem and in 1982 emigrated to Canada. She has worked in Peru, China, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Kosovo. She has photographed Inuit in northern Quebec, Czech communities in Kazakhstan and in the Romanian region of Banat, Roma in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Ukrainian women, and the Chechen war. Her work has been exhibited in many countries. In the Czech Republic she published the book Forgotten Czechs in Banat and is the co-author of several other books of photography. She has worked with the People in Need Foundation in Chechnya, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

"I lived with the Inuit in northern Canada for one year. There you can see the aurora borealis every winter day. It didn’t appeal to some people after a while, but I never stopped being excited by that art in the sky. As one cannot become bored by beauty, one shouldn’t develop immunity to other people’s tragedies. I’m always shocked when I see what has happened to somebody else, and I try to offer that person my hand."

Jan Šibik is one of the leading Czech photojournalists. He began his career at the weekly Mlady Svet and since 1992 has been primarily working for Reflex magazine. He has worked in the most troubled parts of our planet. Sibik traveled not only to Afghanistan, but was also witness to atrocities in Sierra Leone, famine in Sudan, and the Balkan wars. His pictures have appeared in Stern, Time, and Newsweek. He is the recipient of 32 prizes in several categories of the Czech Press Photo competition (twice the main prize, in 1995 and 1999). In 1997 he received the Fuji Film Photographer prize. He has exhibited many times in the Czech Republic, as well as in Italy, Poland, Russia, Belgium, Egypt, and elsewhere.

"Sometimes I feel that taking pictures in some situations, you behave a little bit like a hyena. I work according to one principle: when people don’t want to be photographed, I stop. Also, I try to work as quickly as possible. While looking at the brilliant book Inferno by James Nachtwey, I realized that there isn’t any rule that says what is forbidden to photograph and what is not. However, it’s very important how you take the picture."