Kieran Kesner, a student at NYU Prague in Spring 2013, had his remarkable photos of the Czech Roma community published by the World Photography Magazine in the January 2014 issue. Kieran’s project was selected for the magazine’s Student Spotlight series.
Kieran spent the semester in Prague and then a month in the summer traveling to little-known corners of the Czech Republic to learn more about the lives of Roma people. The Roma minority – also known as Gypsies – suffers greatly in Europe because of deep-rooted discrimination. Kieran’s off-the-beaten-track research resulted in a stunning and sensitive series of photos entitled Beauty in Roma Communities. His photos can be seen at his website: http://kierankesner.com/ and in the World Photography Magazine: http://www.worldphoto.org/news-and-events/wpo-news/documenting-roma-communities-interview-with-nyu-student-kieran-kesner/.
Kieran is returning to Prague for a solo exhibition of his photos which opens on 17 April.
Why did you initially choose to study in Prague? Did you have specific expectations for your photography before you came?
My entire family came from Russia and Eastern Europe at the turn of the century. Luckily all four of my great-grandparents and my immediate extended family escaped the Holocaust. Sadly, nearly all of my ancestors that remained perished by the end of World War II. I was drawn to study abroad in Prague because of my desire to trace my roots and learn a little bit more about the world my family came from.

What events, experiences, or people made you aware of the Roma community?
As a U.S. citizen I never had any first hand knowledge of Roma so my impressions were neither negative or positive. I learned of the Roma first in a lecture given at NYU Prague [by NYU Prague professor Salim Murad] on minorities in the Czech Republic during our first week of classes. The Czech Republic is a very homogeneous society despite its two largest minorities, the Vietnamese (because of the relationship the two countries had with one another during the Communist era) and Roma, otherwise known as Gypsies. My impression of Roma was much like most Americans, strongly influenced by the romantic and magical images we saw in movies of the traveling vagabonds, but not rooted in any true sense of of reality.

How did your Roma project develop? Did you initially plan to spend as much time with the community?
I became intrigued with the Roma, not initially for who they were as a people, but for the extreme levels of open discrimination I witnessed towards them. In conversations and observations, the unabashed hatred of Roma was shared by many people I met, from liberal Europeans to those in the ever increasing neo-Nazi movement. I was compelled to learn the truth for myself. So with some research and introductions arranged through Kumar Vishwanathan of the Roma non-profit, “Life Together”, my first trip was to Ostrava, an old post-communist coal mining city three hours from Prague. Though I didn’t speak Czech, my experiences were positive and far different than the negative stereotypes shared by those I had previously spoken too. After my studies were complete and I returned back to the U.S.; I felt my unique vantage point of living with the Roma, and being devoid of the prejudice many Europeans are raised with, could help offer another perspective on Roma society and the challenges they face. In the summer of 2013, I returned to Eastern Europe for six weeks, thanks in part to a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign. This led me to neighboring Slovakia where the Roma live in extreme poverty as well as to Serbia and Montenegro.

How did your experiences in the Czech Republic affect you personally and your career as a photographer?
Every day, new doors open that I never could have imagined because of my project with the Roma and my experience studying abroad. Now that I have graduated from NYU (January 2014), I am continuing to build both personal and professional opportunities. I hope the Roma Project combined with my growing portfolio in photography, video and multimedia, will allow me the professional opportunity to continue telling unique stories of life.

What are your plans for the near future? Do you plan to return to the Czech Republic?
In April I have an exhibition of the Roma project in Prague sponsored by the US Embassy. From there I plan to expand the project to neighboring Hungary and then Romania. I am then hoping to parlay my experience as a photographer and digital storyteller, comfortable in multiple media platforms including web, social, print and video, into a productive and rewarding career that fulfills my curiosity and desire to explore the world.