Fotograf Zone – Viola Hertelová

Are we, the residents, users or designers, the ones constructing the urban landscape, or does the city space, conversely, construct, shape, and transform us?

The visual-documentary probe Construct On Site maps, through a series of found scenes from urban construction sites and temporary settings, the breaking points where the disrupted integrity of urban structures reveals the paradoxical fragility of their own foundations. The juxtaposition of collected, seemingly banal objects and fragments of urban scenery draws our attention to anomalies whose interpretation, although left to the viewer’s judgment, subtly points to the societal issue of the (in)stability of contemporary urban environments.

Construct On Site was published as a zine within the Urban Energies project focused on the photographic interpretation of urban space, and follows up on the interdisciplinary workshop of the same name held by 4AM Forum for Architecture and Media, led by Zara Pfeiffer, Viola Hertelová, and Jan Vranovský in Brno in spring 2024.

All images: Viola Hertelová, Construct On Site, 2024

Viola Hertelová

studied architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, Brno University of Technology and photography at the Institute of Creative Photography, Silesian University in Opava. Working at the intersection of these two disciplines, she has long focused primarily on critical approaches to visual documentary. In her work, she mainly explores public spaces in contemporary cities. Her architectural photographs have appeared in magazines such as Dolce Vita, Dezeen, and ArchDaily. In 2025, she received the title Personality of Czech Photography Under 30. Currently, she is approaching the topic of visual architectural interpretation more comprehensively in her theoretical doctoral research.

#49 Talk Together

This issue explores language – its forms, possibilities, and limits. We look at how we communicate in the digital space, how the language of artificial intelligence changes our notions of creativity, and how visual images can replace words. You will discover why language is never neutral and how it shapes identity, creates inequalities, and opens paths to liberation. The issue features a reflection by bell hooks, the artistic practice of Eszter Magyar, projects documenting the Roma community in Brno, and visual essays by Claudia Larcher and Tabor Robak. The magazine presents language as a tool of communication, power, and resistance and invites you to reflect on what it truly means to talk to one another today.