BIO
Zuzana Pustaiová (born 1990 in Levice, Slovakia) started her interest in visual arts with painting but soon switched to photography, which she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia, and University of Applied Sciences in Bielefeld, Germany. In January 2022, she completed her doctoral degree in arts.
In her artworks, Pustaiová explores role-playing in contemporary society as a principal element that forms the relationships between family members, relatives, friends, or other diverse social groups. With a sense of wit, she uncovers the cultural stereotypes related to gender, age, tradition, and social inclusion. More recently, she started to explore nuclear energy production as a global phenomenon related to local politics and the overall picture of nuclear in media.
Zuzana Pustaiová has received numerous awards in contemporary photography (nomination C/O Berlin Talent Award 2024, 3rd prize LensCulture Art Photography Award 2023, finalist at Grand Prix and Book Award Images Vevey 2023/2024, Grand Prix at the Rovinj Photodays 2021, finalist at the Images Vevey 2021/2022, finalist at the Grand Prix Bialystok Interphoto 2021, 1st Prize at the Rovinj Photodays 2018, recipient of the scholarship at the Eva Kahan Foundation in San Sano, Italy, 2024, etc.), and in 2018 she was named Photographer of the Year in Slovakia. She has exhibited internationally in Europe and Canada. Her first art book, titled One Day Every Day (2022), was shortlisted for Paris Photo Aperture Photobook Awards 2022.
Pustaiová is a member of the Reflektor – platform for self-published photobooks in Austria and the Association of Slovak Professional Photographers in Slovakia. She works as a freelance photographer, lecturer, educator and editor-in-chief of Fotonoviny – Newspaper for photography.
She lives and works in Levice and Bratislava. Pustaiová is represented by Gallery Fotografic in Prague, Czech Republic & Photon Gallery, Slovenia.
AWARDS
2025 shortisted, Discovery Award 2025 Louis Roeder Foundation, Arles, FR
2024 1st prize, Rovinj Photodays, Rovinj, Croatia
2023 nomination, C/O Berlin Talent Award 2024, C/O Berlin, Berlin, DE
2023 Grand Prix, Rotlicht festival, Vienna, AT
2023 nomination, MAST Photography Grant 2023/2024, MAST Foundation, Bologna, IT
2023 shortisted, Grand Prix Images Vevey 2023/2024, Vevey, CH
2023 shortisted, Images Vevey Book Award 2023/2024, Vevey, CH
2023 3rd prize, LensCulture Art Photography Award, online
2022 shortlisted, Paris Photo x Aperture Photobook Award, Paris, FR / Aperture, NY
2022 2st prize, Contemporay photobook, The best photobooks from Central and Eastern Europe in years 2021-2022, Month of Photography in Bratislava, SK
2021 finalist, Bialystok Interphoto Grand Prix, Bialystok, Poland
2021 Grand Prix, Rovinj Photodays, Rovinj, Croatia
2021 1st prize, Rovinj Photodays, Rovinj, Croatia
2021 shortisted, Grand Prix Images Vevey 2021/2022, Vevey, CH
2019 Student personality of academic year 2018/2019, Bratislava, SK <category: Culture and Art>
2019 Honorable mention, Latitude Life APS, Italy / New York
2018 Photographer of the Year 2018, Bratislava, SK
2018 2nd prize, Different Worlds, Photon Gallery, Ljubljana, SI
2018 1st prize, Rovinj Photodays, Rovinj, Croatia
2017 nomination, PhotogrVphy Magazine Grant, online platform
2017 finalist, Lucie Foundation Scholarschip, Los Angeles, USA
2015 finalist, FOTO ROKA 2015, Bratislava, SK
2014 3rd prize, Politics, photography and present, Bratislava, SK
2014 1st prize, Portfolio review, Month of Photography, Bratislava, SK
2014 3rd prize, Just For Laughs 2014 International Visual Arts Competition Montreal, Canada
2013 1st prize, FOTO ROKA 2013, Bratislava, SK
2012 3rd prize, FRAME O12, Praha, CZ
EDUCATION
2018 – 2022
Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, SK
Doctoral degree / led by Jana Hojstričová & Bohunka Koklesová
2011 – 2017
Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, SK
BA / MA / Studio about Photography led by Silvia Saparova
2016
University of Applied Science, Bielefeld, Germany
MA / Led by Prof. Katharina Bosse and Prof. Axel Grünewald
2007 – 2011
Seconary art school of Ladislav Bielik, Levice, SK
Photography design led by Gabriel Kosmály