Between Light and Dream emerged from a desire to look at a familiar place differently—more slowly, more attentively, and with greater sensitivity. I am interested in the moment when a landscape ceases to appear as something ordinary and quietly begins to reveal its less obvious nature. In this project, photography becomes more than a mere record of reality; it becomes a way of drawing closer to it.
For this series, I chose a small island in the middle of Poděbrady Pond near Olomouc. It is a place to which I have a personal connection and one that I return to for its calm, silence, and peculiar sense of separation from the surrounding world. Although people move around the pond, the island itself maintains its own rhythm. It feels secluded, yet not inaccessible. Rather, it is a space where one can slow down for a moment, be alone, and simply observe the light, the water, the trees, and the movement of life all around.
This experience naturally shaped the way I approached the photographs. Working with the invisible part of the spectrum allows the landscape to be perceived differently from how it is normally seen. Familiar forms are transformed, contrasts become softer, and the landscape takes on a dreamlike, at times almost unreal character. Yet this transformation is not pursued merely for visual effect. More important is the feeling that the image reveals something that has always been present in the place, but remains beyond the reach of ordinary vision.
The process of photographing in this way is slower and more contemplative. It encourages me to stay longer, to return repeatedly, and to experience the place with greater intensity. For this reason, I understand the project as a personal encounter with a landscape that embodies a sense of peace, freedom, and meditation. Here, the island becomes not only a subject but also a symbol of an inner space—a place between light and dream, between what is visible and what remains hidden.
