freelance photographer, represented by Panos Pictures.

Iva Zimova lives in a back-pack. Pardon me, that’s two back-packs. The first pack, which Iva wears in the front whenever she moves camp, contains all of the photographer’s tools. It is her most prized possession. In the pack on her back, she carries all the remaining living essentials: an extra pair of jeans, two or three T-shirts. One sweater…Should there be room for more, she packs things to give away to friends.

In eighties Iva Zimova left her native Czechoslovakia and became a Canadian. Since then her life is one of travels to remote corners of the world.

"I'm not a reporter who courageously records conflicts wherever they occur; in fact, I'm always scared before a trip. I never know what the trip will be like, who I meet or where I will sleep."

"I always carry my camera with me in my backpack. The pack becomes a part of my body and if I don't have it on me I feel like I'm missing something. To have my camera with me at all times gives me opportunities to photograph anything interesting, anytime."

"I like to stay with the people of the region I am visiting; live with them, eat with them, work with them. I just can't jump into their lives, take the photos and leave. I must become comfortable with them - I need to be accepted by the community or by the family I stay with. Then I can take the pictures."