Tomas Vocelka (*1965)
Czech photographer and journalist, winner of the Architecture & Design category in the Professional competition at the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards. In recent years, he has worked primarily as a photographer for the Czech news website Aktuálně.cz, where he also served as editor of the photography section. He is now a photographer and contributor to Reportér magazine. He won the Czech Press Photo 2018 competition in the Prague Transformations / Prague Grant category and has been a finalist in the Travel Photographer of the Year an Hasselblad Masters competitions. In 2021, he was named Krnov’s Person of the Year in the Culture category.
CONTESTS
London Photography Awards 2024 - Platinum Winner at London Photography - Abstract category / Professional
Hasselblad Masters 2023 - finalist in the Streetphotography category
Sony World Photography Awards 2021 - winner (Architecture & design / Professional)
Czech Press Photo 2019 - second place (Reportage category)
Travel Photographer of the Year 2019 - Finalist (Street Photography - single)
Czech Press Photo 2018 - Winner (Prague grant category)
Sony World Photography Awards 2017 - Commended (Nature / Open)
Olympus Global Open Photo Contest 2016-17 – Runner Up (Perspectives Often Missed)
Travel Photographer of the Year 2016 – Finalist (Land, Sea, Sky – Portfolio)
Photo Annual Awards 2014 – Honorable mention (Motions, series)
EXHIBITIONS
30 Years Since Václav Havel’s Visit to Krnov — group exhibition, Krnov (October 2025)
11th Kladno Salon — biennial exhibition featuring painters, sculptors and photographers, Kladno Castle (September–November 2024)
Below the Prague Towers - Jiří Hanke's Cabinet of Photography at Kladno Castle (2. 3. - 18. 5. 2023)
Cities and Escapes - Eisler Gallery (at the Municipal House), Opava (5. 11. 2022 - 8. 1. 2023)
Below the Prague Towers & Eternal Hunting Grounds - U Kostela Gallery, Bílina, Czech Republic, (1. 6. - 10. 7. 2022)
Below the Prague Towers - Opera Gallery, Theatre of Jiří Myron, Ostrava (31. 3. - 2. 5. 2022)
Sony World Photography Awards 2021 exhibition - Germany, Berlin, Willy-Brandt-Haus (28. 10. 2021 - 12. 1. 2022)
Sony World Photography Awards 2021 exhibition - France, Paris, Galerie Joseph, 5 rue Saint Merri (5. 11. - 15. 11. 2021)
Fotofestival Lenzburg (Sony WPA 2021) - Switzerland, Lenzburg (4. 9. - 3. 10 .2021), Sony WPA Exhibiton, Professional winners
Sony Imaging Gallery - Japan, Tokyo, Ginza Place 6F (9. 7. - 15. 7. 2021) Sony WPA Exhibiton, Professional winners
Poor Czechia - Economia, Prague, October 2021
Visions of Six - Jizerská 50, Leica Gallery Prague, 2021 (6 photographers)
Below the Prague Towers - Czech Photo Centre Gallery, Prague, 2020 (solo)
Czech Press Photo 2019 exhibition - Old Town Square City Hall, Prague, 2019
Generation Z - exhibition at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, 2019
Letmo (aerial photography) - Svět Gallery, Ostrava, 2019 (T. Vocelka nad V. Vocelka)
The wonderful world of flying - Karolinum, Prague 2018 (with photographer Jiří Pruša)
Czech Press Photo 2018 exhibition - Old Town Square City Hall, Prague, 2018
Geometry of the City - Leica Gallery Café, Prague, 2018 (solo)
Czech Press Photo 2017 exhibition - Old Town Square City Hall, Prague, 2017
Velvet Revolution in Krnov - Krnov City Hall, 2017 (Tomas Vocelka, Gustav Aulehla)
Cities & Escapes - Retrospective exhibition at the Flemich's villa, Krnov, 2017 (solo)
5 hours in Los Angeles - National Library of Technology Prague, Café Prostoru, 2016 (solo)
Photo Annual Awards 2014 exhibition - Teplice, 2015
Photo bloggers exhibition - MAFRA building, Prague, 2011
BOOKS & CATALOGUES
Stories Behind the Photographs (2026, Tomáš Vocelka) — a photography book by Tomas Vocelka, published in PDF format (ISBN 978-80-11-08125-6), 176 pages, featuring 170 photographs, Czech language.
Sony World Photography Awards 2021 - Photo book, World Photography Organisation, Editor Alisa McWhinnie, hardback, ISBN 978-1-8383872-0-4
Visions of Six - Jizerska 50 as photographic inspiration (2020, Raul! Agency) - Photo book, author and editor: Petr Volf. Photographers: Tomáš Vocelka, Jiří Langpaul, Jan Šibík, Daniel Hušták, Makréta Navrátilová, Lukáš Dvořák. "The fifty-third Jizerská 50 cross-coutry skiing race also included an art project "jizerska 50 Visions of six". Tis time race provided inspiration for leading Czech Photographers selected, primarily, by Mila Dubska, director of the Leica Gallery Prague. The resulting collection not only transmits the atmosphere of this cross-country skiing tournament, but also demonstrates various approaches to the mediium of photography an to creative work in general," writes editor and curator Peter Volf .
Our mountains & skis & snow. Edited by Herbert Slavik (2020, WWA Photo) - Photo book, different photogaphers, for example Vilém Heckel, Herbert Slavík, Jan Kasl or Tomáš Vocelka and many others.
Below the Prague Towers (2020, Tomáš Vocelka) - Author: Tomáš Vocelka. Catalogue of the photo exhibition in the Czech Photo Center gallery, 60 pages. Series Below the Prague towers won Grant of Prague category at the Czech Press Photo contest 2018).
Czech Press Photo Catalogue (2019) - Photos from the Czech Press Photo Exhibition at Old Town City Hall, Prague. Reportage category (2nd place).
Czech Press Photo Catalogue (2018) - Photos from the Czech Press Photo Exhibition at Old Town City Hall, Prague. Winning photos fom the Prague Grant category.
Cities and Escapes (2017, Tomáš Vocelka) - Author: Tomáš Vocelka. Catalogue of the authors photo exhibition held in the Flemich's Villa in Krnov.
Czech Press Photo Catalogue 2017 - Photos from the Czech Press Photo Exhibition at Old Town City Hall, Prague. Contemporary Issues category.
Lens of the Velvet Revolution, Krnov 1989-1990 (2009) - Photo book edited by Zdenek Jeník and Petr Strandel. Photographers Tomáš Vocelka, Vladimír Vocelka, Gustav Aulehla, Josef Kuník, Richard Hrček a Martin Hradečný. Velvet Revolution seen by the local photographers at the Silesian town Krnov.
JURY MEMBERSHIP
Czech Sport Photography Awards 2022 (member of the jury, meeting held on 11 January 2023)