Life on Earth through the eyes of its inhabitans

Despite our technological advancement and the fact that people have been chasing success, money wealth altogether, there are still places in the world where time has practically stopped. People here live a life without stress, are close to each other and their lives calmly flow by without any real obstacles. Victoria Minyazova visited such a place, a village called Novaya Utka, where she tried to capture the local atmosphere and the lingering countryside lifestyle. The resulting images speak for themselves and take us on a journey into time that many of us have already forgotten, and some of us have never even experienced. (WoL)

When Martin Rupert presented his portrayal of the letters WoL made from wrenches, a cup of coffee and a slider in his week, we immediately knew that others will try to come up with original ideas as well; and we were not mistaken. Your fantasies certainly have no boundaries and with every new addition, we were filled with joy, looking forward what you come up with next. In the end, we found more than 50 photos with this theme and we show them to you here in all their beauty. You not only put together the letters of WoL, but you wrote them in various places, whenever you thought about the project during the day. And from what we see, you put a lot of time and effort into it. You can take a look at who did what and how much you played with it in today’s photo topic.

When water freezes outside and the land is coated with snow, it is the right time for the annual hog killing. This dated Czech tradition is usually organized between November and March and it is such an event that many families rank its importance along Birthdays or Christmas Holidays. One of the families to hold such a tradition is the Prčík family, well known from the weeks of Zdeněk Dvořák. And due to the decline of this tradition, mainly because of financial reasons and lack of time, we now have a single opportunity to experience what goes on in the backyard of the Prčík family and enjoy the atmosphere of everything that is involved with this event. Before continuing further however, we would like to warn you that the content of the photographs is not for individuals with a weak stomach. Additionally, we’d like to emphasize the fact that the time and care devoted to the animal as well as the process of killing the pig, which is by the way fast and almost painless, in this case favors the Czech local hog killings as opposed to the wholesale slaughter houses. Still, today, local hog killing is considered as animal torture and condemned by a wide spectrum of people around the world. (WoL)

Tomas Loewy does it again and brings us closer to a unique event called Art Basel Miami Beach. Once again, you will get the impression that the citizens of this planet are sometimes able to come up with the craziest ideas. In any case, it is important to emphasize that Art Basel Miami Beach is mainly a social event based on a common theme and that is art. In this reportage, you will witness that art really has no boundaries. Enjoy and let the following report be an inspiration to you! (WoL)

Should you wish to look at Mila Štáfek’s first week, you would have to browse through more than a thousand weeks. Mila is one of the members that joined the project in its very beginning, yet it seems as if it were yesterday when his week named ‘cycle’ arrived in the editor’s office. We were amazed how spontaneous and technically mastered his portrayal of his life was in the set of 63 photographs. And we were even more surprised when we found out that Mila is actually not a professional photographer. He then submitted 2 more weeks, both in black and white and in the same style that if they were left nameless, we would immediately realize it was Mila’s work. This interview brings you closer to a man with the soul of a skateboarder and the interaction between two of his greatest passions, sports and photography.

We are proud to introduce the 3rd issue of Week of Life Magazine, primarily created to spread the idea of WoL across the whole world in as many ways possible. The largest contribution to the Magazine is by all means the connection with Zinio.com, the largest player on the international market in its field. We believe that individuals who have not yet come across WoL will find the idea interesting and we hope to see lives of new members from across the globe soon.

My mom was never too fond of being photographed. She was always hiding and resolutely opposed this type of documentation. When I looked through my photos, I realized that she really isn’t in a single picture. She might have been caught walking by or appeared somewhere in the back of the photo, but you could never be certain it was actually her. It’s almost unbelievable that even though I photograph basically everything,… important or not, I don’t have my mother in any of the photos.

Today’s photo topic is dedicated to the General partner of the Czech Week of Life Pilsner Urquell - the flagship of the Plzeňský prazdroj, a leading brewing company in Central Europe. We highly appreciate the support of all our partners, since the Week of Life project would never have been able to function without them. From your documented weeks we realized that you have a positive relation towards Pilsner Urquell, which is not that much of a surprise after all, since brewing and the consumption of beer is an integral part of the Czech society and culture. That is why we are honored to have such a respectable brand as Pislner Urquell is as the General partner of WoL CZ, namely due to its reputation in the brewing field, with its lager belonging among the best. Take a look at all the forms and ways through which Pilsner Urquell has influenced your lives.

The news about a toxic sludge spill from the aluminum works in the city of Ajka in western Hungary traveled the world. The entire region suddenly turned red from the alkaline mud and the catastrophe, the largest ecological catastrophe in Hungary as the locals claim, has even taken several human lives. The villages affected the most are called Kolontár and Devecser. Thanks to Juraj Sucharda, we have the chance to visit the region once again and think about how ruthless we are towards our environment and how easy it if for normal peaceful lives to turn into pure desperation. We are not here to moralize, as everyone has the right to their opinion or perspective of this catastrophe. We would simply like to draw the attention to the fact that human actions can have devastating consequences and have been the major cause of natural disasters in recent times. Nature is a strong opponent for humans and will certainly not leave our actions go unpunished, the ecological catastrophe in Hungary included. (WoL)

What is so specific about maternal leave? How does it even feel to be a mother? What do women experience and how does the existence of their child affect their own personal needs? Do they have free time for themselves after they tuck in their children at night? And if so, how do they spend it? This photographic documentary created by Zuzana Bobovníková,who has been on maternal leave herself, busts myths and stereotypes about mothers as we all know them. Her unconventional insight into the lives of women and the style in which she presents it shows us that mothers are too human beings in need of the occasional time off. Yes, they need to take care of their children, but enjoying their free time does not make bad mothers out of them. On the contrary – Each and every photo shows how much they love their children and that motherly love truly has no boundaries. (WoL)