Ivan Kováč

Biography

Ivan Kováč (* March 9, 1960, Košice) is a Slovak photographer and documentarian. He was introduced to photography in childhood through his father, who systematically documented family life. After studying mechanical engineering in Bratislava, he worked as a design engineer in Tlmače, where he also became the company’s official photographer. From 1988 to 1991, he studied at the Institute of Fine Photography, which later became the Institute of Creative Photography of the Silesian University in Opava, under the supervision of Vladimír Birgus. After 1989, he founded his own photo lab, Cocifoto, which also functioned as a local exhibition space. He later worked as a regional photographer and, after moving to Bratislava, became a staff photographer for the daily newspaper Nový Čas. His documentary work has been included in several curated selections and projects, including Rodinný album.sk and Čas-Opis 1989 (Slovak National Gallery). Kováč has received multiple Slovak Press Photo awards (2013, 2015) for his journalistic photography, and in 2019 he won the Czech Republic and Slovakia: Together and Separately competition marking the centenary of Czechoslovakia.