Photo Angel helps parents of sick children
Fifteen thousand crowns. This is how much the sale of a limited edition of nine copies of the photograph Anděl brought in. The author of the photograph, photographer Jana Stross, handed a symbolic check for this amount to Mgr. Pavlína Hauznerová from the Guidance Center of the Brno University Hospital at the beginning of the summer holidays. She thus concluded the successful charity event PROVÁZÍMÉ S ANDĚLEM.
All proceeds from the sale of the photographs will be used by the Bereavement Support Centre at the University Hospital Brno to purchase support items for parents who, due to the health condition of their children, find themselves in a difficult or crisis situation. These include, for example, anti-stress and stabilising aids, or commemorative items to provide comfort and preserve the bond between the deceased child and the parent.
"As a child, I experienced what it is like to cope with the gradual passing and ultimate loss of a loved one and to be left alone. That is why I decided to use my work to at least slightly help the parents of young patients and show them that they are not alone," said photographer Jana Stross, adding: "The photograph Angel was created in a unique moment, when the automatic sliding doors of the operating theatre stopped working and remained open. Daylight, specifically the morning sun, began to shine into the room from the corridor. This is normally impossible, as operating theatres today, with very few exceptions, have no windows and no access to natural light."
"The team of the Bereavement Support Centre warmly thanks Ms. Jana Stross and everyone who purchased a photograph or supported the project in another way. The photograph Angel is for us a symbol of solidarity and hope. We are deeply grateful," said Pavlína Hauznerová, head of the Bereavement Support Centre at the University Hospital Brno.
The personal project of photographer Jana Stross, WE ACCOMPANY WITH THE ANGEL, was made possible also thanks to the media support of Czech Art Photo. "I believe that photography can not only bring joy but also help where it is needed. That is why we became partners of this charity event. An event that truly made sense. People acquired a unique photograph and thus became angels for those going through the hardest moments of their lives. They deserve our heartfelt thanks," added Martin Skřivánek, photographer and manager of Czech Art Photo.
The Bereavement Support Centre at the University Hospital Brno
The Bereavement Support Centre at the University Hospital Brno has for many years been providing crisis intervention and psychosocial support to families of children with serious or rare illnesses, after severe injuries, with disabilities, or to families of prematurely born children. The Centre's staff help parents to navigate their new situation and to cope with the initial shock. They may accompany families even at the moment of receiving unfavourable news, or support them when, despite the doctors' best efforts, the treatment of the child is unsuccessful or not possible.
Jana Stross
Jana Stross is a photographer and paediatric nurse specialising in documentary and reportage photography in a hospital setting. However, she does not photograph patients' pain and suffering, as she is a healthcare professional herself. Instead, since 2007, she has turned her lens towards those who help the sick – her colleagues, the healthcare workers. Her work has been published in, for example, Digitální FOTO magazín, Edge Of Humanity Magazine, and exhibited at the House of Lucie Gallery Budapest or FIAP IMPC meeting Changsha, China.
Her internationally awarded black-and-white series Colleagues has been on display since 2022 in the Children's Hospital of the University Hospital Brno.
Contact for media:
Jana Stross
jana.stross@seznam.cz
777 96 32 23
www.jana-stross.cz