Anna Fárová Books

Photographic legacy and biographical and critical information on Josef Sudek, Czech photographer.

In a career that spanned nearly seven decades, Josef Sudek, one of the masters of twentieth-century photography, created his own solitary world of shadow and light, of theme and variation. The more than 100 images in this monograph convey the spirit of Prague as well as the spirit of Sudek.

From the mid-1920s until his death in 1976, Czech photographer Joseph Sudek shot Gothic and Baroque architecture, street scenes and still lifes--usually leaving the frame free of people and capturing a poetic and highly individualistic glimpse of Prague. The still lifes are the best known aspect of his oeuvre; indeed, his graceful depictions of drinking-glasses and eggs are familiar to those who don't necessarily even know his name. Acceding to his reclusive nature, Sudek began The Window of My Studio series in the 1940s. It allowed him to capture street scenes without going outside and helped him discover a particular fondness for how glass refracts light. The still lifes emerged from the informal arrangements Sudek would make on his windowsill, and occupied him for a number of years. Depicting a range of quotidian objects with a marked artfulness--some were made in homage to favorite painters like Caravaggio--the series deserves a deeper look. This volume is the first in-depth study of Sudek's still lifes and also explores his creative use of carbon printing--a pigment process on rag paper not often used photographically--which lent so many of his images such extraordinary depth and warmth.

Published on the occasion of the legendary Czech photographer's eightieth birthday, Josef Returning offers a comprehensive look at Koudelka's life and work, featuring all of the series for which he has become so well known, among them Beginnings , Experiments , Theatre , Gypsies , Invasion 68 , Exiles and Panorama . Besides Koudelka's photographs, many of which have become canonical works of postwar photography, the book is notable for its inclusion of unique archival material, such as excerpts from his diaries, contact prints, examples of book or magazine mockups from 1969 in preparation for the Invasion 68 series, and photographs of friends, as well as other images from his personal life. The book was conceived and edited by Koudelka himself, making this volume an exceptional publication.

Další v řadě knižních vydání fotografických cyklů Josefa Sudka v nakladatelství Torst přináší soubor jeho zátiší – vedle fotografií Prahy patrně nejznámější a nejoblíbenější části jeho díla. Sudek svými zátišími navázal na fotografie okna svého ateliéru, na jehož parapetu se mu zátiší začala přirozeně utvářet. Svá zátiší přitom vztahoval k tvorbě dávných malířských mistrů tohoto žánru – mj. Caravaggia, Jeana-Baptiste Siméona Chardina a Josefa Navrátila. Sudkovy fotografie sklenic, ovoce, mušlí či vejce se staly klasickými a dnes patří k základním hodnotnám světové fotografie. Knihu doprovází text historika umění Jana M. Tomeše, poukazující na Sudkův vztah k výtvarnému umění a vydávající i osobní svědectví o setkání s Josefem Sudkem. Součástí knihy je Sudkův životopis z pera historičky fotografie Anny Fárové.

Reportážní fotografie Jana Šibíka z roku 1989. Pád Berlínské zdi, revoluce v Československu, revoluce v Rumunsku.