“This photograph was taken on 30 May 2021, when a marathon for elite runners took place in the streets of Prague. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the marathon took a somewhat different form than that I’ve been used to in recent years. Even so, top marathon runners from home and from around the world came together at the start. The race began at half past six in the morning from Charles Bridge, and during the race the runners passed Old Town Square, where I took this image. Because at the time the sun was not yet high above the horizon, I could incorporate it into the image, resulting in a great effect. It was also important that the rest of the picture included the runners to produce a good image, and I think I succeeded with this photograph,” says the author.
Photo: Roman Vondrouš / ČTK
Roman Vondrouš was born in 1975 in Pardubice, and completed a master’s degree at the Silesian University in Opava’s Institute of Creative Photography. He is currently a doctoral student at the same university. He has worked as a press photographer for the Czech News Agency for a number of years. He won top prize in the prestigious international World Press Photo 2013 contest in the Sport category, and has won a number of awards in the national Czech Press Photo contest.