Janek Stempel

Janek Stempel (born 2003) is a documentary photographer from Prague. He attended the German School in Prague and began studying Visual Journalism and Documentary Photography in Hannover in 2023. His photographic focus is on portraits and reportage.

In September 2025 Janek completed an internship as a photojournalist at the Czech magazine Respekt. From January to June 2026 he worked as a trainee photographer at the F.A.Z.

At Czech Press Photo 2025, Janek won the Canon Junior Award: Discovery of the Year.

Info:
Email: janek@stempel.cz
Web: janekstempel.com
Insta: @janek_stempel
Languages: DE+ENG+CZ+SVK
Based in: Hannover + Czech Republic

Stories by Janek

Masculinity

‘I was a Hitler caricature from a bad Hollywood film’.

He used to march through the streets in a leather coat, carrying the Reich war flag, giving hate speeches and dreaming of the great revolution. Today Axel Reitz works in extremism prevention.

After dark

Hannover’s night angel: help while the city sleeps.

An interview about night-time rounds through the city, encounters on the margins – and help that gets through.

Portrait of Martina, the ‘night angel’, at a table in her flat. In the background is a large red cupboard and a pinboard with her personal photos.

Recommended by the editors

Advice

What makes a good photo reportage: characteristics, examples and tips.

A clear focus on the people in the story, powerful pictures, strong storytelling: using examples, we show you the hallmarks of a photo reportage that grips and stays in the mind.

A woman holds two cameras up to her eyes.

Traces

‘The wolf is a problem that can be solved’

Protect or shoot? How farmers and conservationists are struggling over the right way to deal with the returning predator.

Masculinity

The social pull of masculinity

What does it mean to be a man today? On the pressure to conform, on uncertainty – and why simple answers are so seductive.

What holds us together

‘A cultural middle finger to the system’

For some, punk is long dead; for others, it’s more alive than ever: a conversation about attitude, dissent and freedom.

Ideals

#BodyPositivity – the fight for respect

The self-love trend obscures the idea behind body positivity – and clouds the real problem in society.

Hannover, 30 January 2022: a chest with hair, pressed together. Model: Konrad Bürgi, photo: Larissa Bürgi

Work

Milk churn meets mixing desk: new beginnings in Poland’s Podlasie

Few places in Poland are as sparsely populated as Podlasie. While many people leave, some are building something of their own here – out of conviction and family ties.

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