Mira Zdjelar is an independent photographer born in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, presently living in Bucharest, Romania. Mira has also resided in Toronto, Ottawa, São Paulo and Havana.

After losing her own childhood and youth photographs to the turbulence of the recent war in the Balkans and moving to Canada, she decided to start doing photography herself. Images cannot replace memory; all they can hope to do is capture glimpses of worlds seen and lives lived. The challenge for the photographer is to uncover and share visions of the less obvious, the seemingly invisible.

Mira’s ongoing project Urban Connections shows her fascination with cities and their structures, which appear similar, almost tangibly reminiscent, and different at the same time. Diversity enriches while showing invisible ties that bind cities, people, lives, and bring them closer to each other. Having lived in several different countries enables Mira to look for those connections and bring them forward.

Mira’s passion also lies in photographing people, sometimes lost in the landscape, sometimes larger than their surroundings, but always an integral part of the shared human experience.

Solo Exhibitions:
2010 A Better World…, Contact Photo Festival, Leonardo Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2009 Realities Retouched, Contact Photo Festival, Leonardo Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2006 Paisajes urbanos, Maqueta de la Habana, Havana, Cuba
2006 Ciudades menos obvias, Julio Larramendi Gallery, Havana, Cuba
2006 Conexiones urbanas, XI International Festival of Poetry and VII Fine Arts Salon, Havana, Cuba
2006 Images of Havana, Canadian Official Residence, Havana, Cuba
2005 Conexões urbanas, Suplicy Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil

Group Exhibitions:
2009 The Annual Summer and Winter Group Shows, Leonardo Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2007 Habitat, Centro Hispanoamericano de Cultura, Havana, Cuba
2006 Lo real… es maravilloso, IX International Fine Arts Biennale, Havana, Cuba
2005 Silent Auction, Grand Hyatt, São Paulo, Brazil
2004 Projeto Paulista, Senac, São Paulo, Brazil
2004 Silent Auction, Grand Hyatt, São Paulo, Brazil
2003 3rd Annual Photography Exhibit, Ryerson Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2003 Art Show 2003, Lester B. Pearson Building, Ottawa, Canada
2001 1st Annual Photography Exhibit, Ryerson Gallery, Toronto, Canada

Awards:
2006 Canadian Embassy grant for Ciudades menos obvias, solo exhibition with more than 60 photographs, Julio Larramendi Gallery, Havana, Cuba

Publications:
2008 Magazine Sarajevske Sveske, Issue 21-22, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
2007 Magazine PRIVATE, Issue 37: Ecological Question, Bologna, Italy
2006 Magazine Mujeres, Issue 287, Havana, Cuba