Josef Sudek

The winding streets, the squares and the historic architecture of Prague: Josef Sudek's atmospheric mood studies of Prague are a constant in the ouvre of this most famous of Czech photographers (along with Frantisek Drtikol) - right from his earliest shots in 1911 up until his late works in the fifties. His factual, socially aware photographs of the wounded from the First World War demonstrate the documentary approach that is characteristic of Sudek's work as a photographer. In addition he also created landscapes and ?intérieurs? where the light brings to mind thoughts of Rembrandt as well as a whole number of still lifes: lyrical variations on the window of his studio shot during the days of his ?inner emigration? in occupied Prague. This magnificently illustrated publication with a text by the Sudek authority Antonin Dufek takes in all the various areas of Sudek's work and - partly in Sudek's own words - describes the overall character and changes in his work as it moved from Pictorialism to modern Subjectivism, and marks out its place in the international context of 20th century photography. The artist: Josef Sudek (Cologne 1896-1976 Prague). 1922-1924 studied photography at the State Academy of Graphic Art in Prague under Karl Novák. 1924: founder member of the Czech Photographic Society. 1924: official photographer to the City of Prague. 1928: first book of photographs with pictures taken from St Vitus' Cathedral in Prague.