I am planning on visiting Prague in August. Since starting this course, I look even more forward to my travels than I used to, it's not just the idea of visiting a new place or a place where I have had a good time and therefore want to visit, it' s the anticipation of taking pictures and finding those few shots that will bring pleasure to me. Anyway, I digress. again. The point is that now I try and do some research before visiting a new city to get an idea of the what kind of images I could possibly shoot and I also try and find out if there are any well known photographers from that region to see their work and maybe get some additional inspiration. After all, someone once set that all photographers walk on the shoulders of other great photographers...or something to that affect. So during my little foray into researching Prague, I ran into the work of Josef Sudek, (17 March 1896, Kolín, Bohemia – 15 September 1976) a Czech photographer, best known for his photographs of Prague.
Sudek's photography is sometimes said to be modernist. But this is only true of a couple of years in the 1930s, during which he undertook commercial photography and thus worked "in the style of the times". Primarily, his personal photography is neo-romantic. Sudek was also some what of a recluse. He created an artistic document of his immediate surroundings. He was particularly fascinated with his home and garden, often shooting the window-glass that led to his garden (the famous The Window of My Atelier series). I was so completely fascinated by these images. I find them very original and poetic. It's quite amazing to me that someone can produce such beautifully compelling images from ordinary almost mundane objects. I sit there and think of this wonderfully peaceful environment, rain pattering outside, I can image the inmates of this house lounging around, reading, working, generally contemplative all the while peaceful and contented. In this day and age, with all the chaos and strife in the world today, the financial problems, the stresses from hard living, the simplicity and the calmness of the window series appeal to me. The first one below is my absolute favorite and I am so going to try and get a large print of it to put in my room when I go to Prague.
Josef's early work included many series of light falling in the interior of St. Vitus cathederal. During and after World War II Sudek created haunting night-scapes and panoramas of Prague, photographed the wooded landscape of Bohemia, and the of course, the window-glass that led to his garden (the famous The Window of My Atelier series). He went on to photograph the crowded interior of his studio (the Labyrinths series).
His first Western show was at George Eastman House in 1974 and he published 16 books during his life.
Here are some more examples of his work to enjoy.
