Jana Asenbrennerova was born and raised in the Czech Republic, where she studied directing along with screenwriting
at a film academy. She worked in Prague’s film industry for several years before coming to the United States nine years ago.
While attending photography program at City College of San Francisco, Jana worked as an intern under the
tutelage of Jim Doukas, a former assistant of Ansel Adams. Doukas
taught Jana skills in darkroom techniques and mixed media and the usage
of the 4x5 camera on assignments in Central America. Jana
transferred
to San Francisco State University, where she completed her
Baccalaureate degree in Journalism in May 2011. She also interned at the
San Francisco Chronicle for half a year, where she now freelances on occasion.
In
summer of 2010 Jana went to Nepal and started her work as an intern
for a local newspaper the Kathmandu Post. She spent the rest of her time
documenting multiple assignments in Kathmandu, including “Eye Bank,” a local
program for eye donation that returns sight to the blind,
“Mother Laxmi” a single mother of four who works as construction worker
to support her family, and “Tea Ladies,” workers in the tea gardens in the
Himalayan region. Her most recent project, focusing on the issue of
‘Street Kids’ was documented in the streets
of Kathmandu in the summer of 2011.
Her
stories have been published
in multiple local as well as international publications and her images
have won numerous awards, including First Place in the National
Geographic Photo Contest, Silver at the China International Press Photo
Contest, Second at the Czech Press Photo National
Contest, Gold and Award of Excellence at the College Photographer of The
Year, and Grand Prize for Portraiture from Photo District News edu. She was also named Student Photographer of the
Year by the San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association.
Jana works as a freelance photojournalist, dedicating the majority of her time to international reporting with
a focus on social issues. She is available for assignments worldwide.
