With two of my precocious students, sisters Tereza and Bara Balatkovi, I decided to do a photojournalism project in the style of Humans of New York. We walked around Liberec and Bara interviewed strangers on the street about memorable moments in their lives and Tereza photographed them during the interview. Both sisters helped to translate, edit, and choose their favorite stories to be included in the project we’ve dubbed Humans of Liberec.

“What was the happiest moment of your life?”
“When my grandson graduated from college. That was a happy moment. There weren’t many happy moments in my life. But it could be worse.”

“What is the biggest struggle in your life at the moment?”
“Probably school. I study in a very hard school and I often stay up til midnight to finish all of my assignments.”

“What is the best thing that is happening to you at the moment?”
“Well, I have the best boyfriend who supports me no matter what, and I study in the best possible school.”

“What is the hardest thing in your life?”
“Czech language, definitely the Czech language. Oh my god, how I hate the Czech language.”
“Yeahhhhh, exactly, Czech is the worst.”

“Do you remember the day you got your dog?”
“Oh, it was beautiful. She was a little puppy. A little, cute, fluffy ball. I love her so much.”