Linda Zhengová: Intimacy with Strangers

Czech photographer Linda Zhengová, 30, builds her practice on fleeting encounters with strangers, capturing intense, erotic, and emotionally charged portraits. Born in Pilsen, she moved to Prague at 16, later studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, and now lives in Paris. Her work includes photobooks and zines such as "Catharsis" (2021), "Katabasis" (2023), "Strangers" (2024), "Heist" (2025), "Traveling Model" (2025), and "Oxymoron" (2025). The latter was launched in Brazil during the Festival ZUM in November 2025. Her series "Kulishek" (2018) explores her parents' long-distance relationship during communist Czechoslovakia, using family archives. "Maybe, Happiness Is…" (2022-2025) stems from a personal crisis that led her to travel across Europe and Mexico, staying in 21 homes over six months. The zine "Strangers" (2024), published by Editions Bessard in a risograph edition of 50, compiles portraits of people met during these journeys. Zhengová primarily photographs women, emphasizing their agency and control over their own sexuality. She also photographs herself, notably in "Oxymoron," which documents her recovery from an abusive relationship through BDSM and fetish imagery. In 2025, she visited São Paulo, where she conducted a workshop at Lovely House and photographed nightlife, including at the Cine Arouche porn cinema. Her upcoming book "Maybe, Happiness Is…" is scheduled for release in September 2026 by Untitled Publishing.