Henrieta Haniskova

My life began in a small, medieval town in Socialist Czechoslovakia. So old, that our house was built in 1550. As you may have guessed, there wasn’t a lot of TV in my childhood. But our old stone house was full of places to draw and dream. I especially loved peeking through the numerous keyholes, to see what secrets were hiding behind closed doors.

All too soon, the State demanded that I pick a career and I was trained to be nurse. I was very good at the job, but there was one gigantic problem. As an empathetic person, I could never detach myself from my patients, from their stories that were so often tragic and sad. For a time, I thought I was destined for a life of misery.

And then, unexpectedly, came the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Soon after, I packed a small suitcase and flew across the ocean, to Canada. My first job was as a Nanny, and with my very first paycheck, I bought myself an OM1 Olympus manual SLR.

Photography is now my greatest joy, because now my empathy works for me. Quickly connecting with people was heart wrenching as a nurse, but it’s a blessing when you photograph people for a living. And to this day, every time I look through the viewfinder, I feel like that little girl, peeking through the keyhole.