During a legendary career that spanned almost six decades, Czech photographer Josef Sudek, the “poet of Prague,” developed a craftsmanship and technical virtuosity that was unparalleled among his contemporaries. Early in his career, though the prevailing art movements of the 1920s and ’30s included cubism, surrealism, and the Czech avant-garde, Sudek sought his own approach characterized by a striking mastery of light.

 

Copiously illustrated with photographs from the Art Gallery of Ontario—which will also exhibit the photographs through December 2012—this book takes readers on a journey through Sudek’s life and work. Included here are essays by some of the foremost writers on Sudek’s work, including curator Maia-Mari Sutnik, photo-historian Antonín Dufek, Canadian Art editor Richard Rhodes, and photographer Geoffrey James. Sudek’s photographs also feature heavily in Irish novelist John Banville’s Prague Pictures: Portraits of a City, which forms a biographical portrait of the photographer, and several excerpts from the book are included here. Rounding out the volume is a detailed biographical chronology by Czech art historian and Sudek expert Anna Fárová.

 

The photographs in this book cover every stage of Sudek’s extensive career, shedding light on his lifelong quest to perfect his photographic vision.