Josef Sudek

Biography

Josef Sudek (*1896, Kolín – †1976, Prague) was a prominent Czech photographer, best known for his poetic images of Prague, landscapes, still lifes, and architecture. He began taking photographs at the age of seventeen, having originally trained as a bookbinder. During World War I, he was wounded on the Italian front and lost his right arm. From 1922 to 1924, he studied photography at the State School of Graphic Arts in Prague, and in 1924, together with Jaromír Funke and Adolf Schneeberger, he founded the Czech Photographic Society. During the 1920s and 1930s, he worked in portraiture, advertising, reportage, and architectural photography.
From the 1940s onwards, he developed a distinctive, poetic style, with still lifes and views from the window of his studio becoming iconic elements of his work. He worked primarily with large-format negatives and contact prints, placing particular emphasis on light, atmosphere, and subtle tonal gradations. Sudek is regarded as one of the most important figures in Czech and European photography of the 20th century. His work influenced several generations of photographers and remains one of the most distinctive expressions of the rapid development of Czech visual culture.