Josef Sudek

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. Working in Prague all his life, Sudek devoted himself to creating poetic still life images taken from his studio. His magical orchestration of rich, dark tones and the ethereal luminescence of his highlights render Sudek’s world in a spiritual and dream-like tone, where light is substance. The difficulties in Sudek’s life, the loss of his right arm during World War I and the hardships suffered during the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Prague, color his evocative and emotional work. Despite his handicap, he used large view cameras, including a 12 x 20 panoramic format that he wielded both horizontally and vertically, photographing without the help of an assistant. He compiled seven books of Prague photographs, working in the streets until old age and his physical limitations made it too difficult to haul his cameras around. LINK icp.org

Prof. Panayot Panayotov PANETO

Professor Panayotov's work covers many disciplines. During every visit to his studio, he showed me a lot of work. I took pictures at his request. In memory of his incredible versatility, I have made a selection of these beautiful works of art.

Link blog Panayot Panayotov PANETO

Terry Kurgan

Everyone is Present

Terry Kurgan is an artist and writer based in Johannesburg. Her artistic interest is in photography, and her focus-across a broad range of media-is on the volatile and complex relationship between photography and fiction. Kurgan received her BAFA from the California School of Arts in San Francisco, her MFA from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, and her MA in Creative Writing from Wits University in Johannesburg. She has exhibited and published widely-in South Africa and internationally-and over the years, received numerous prestigious Fine Art awards. Kurgan has more recently turned to creative non-fiction to uncover a haunting family history, passed down through two generations, inflecting her own experience of the world. Her book, “Everyone is Present” was shortlisted for the Photo Arles Book Prize (France), was selected as a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards (USA), and won what is considered to be South Africa’s premier non-fiction literary prize, the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award.

LINK review by Andrew van der Vlies