Photography
What is photography?
Photography is an artwork made by a reproductive process that exploits the sensitivity of certain substances to light (in other words, light itself leaves an image on a sensitive surface). At first it was seen more as a technical record of reality, but it gradually worked its way up to become an art form in its own right. Today you will find it in gallery collections and on the walls of collectors and art lovers alike.
When and how did photography come about?
The very first photograph was made in the 1820s by the Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a plate coated with bitumen and a camera obscura (a dark chamber, the forerunner of the camera). The official year of photography's birth, however, is taken to be 1839, when Louis Daguerre perfected his process, the daguerreotype. The path from these pioneers through Eadweard Muybridge's studies of movement to Man Ray and war photographers such as Robert Capa is the subject of the Art Part Club lecture Turning Points in the History of Art: Photography.
Who are the most important photographers?
Among international names, the experimenter Man Ray and the staged self-portraitist Cindy Sherman are often mentioned. Czech photography has enjoyed an exceptionally strong international reputation since the days of the interwar avant-garde. Josef Sudek and František Drtikol remain icons of world photography, and among more recent names, Josef Koudelka, Jan Saudek and Libuše Jarcovjáková resonate internationally.
How does Czech photography stand?
Exceptionally well, it has to be said. The Czech photographic scene has held its standing abroad continuously from the interwar avant-garde to the present day, which few fields here manage. Sudek, Drtikol, Koudelka, Saudek and Jarcovjáková are names that open doors even at the most prestigious shows.
How does photography do on the art market?
Photography was very affordable in the Czech Republic for a long time and was therefore a welcome way in for new collectors. That is changing, though, and prices here are rising. Photographic works are now a regular part of museum collections and serious auctions, so anyone considering them may not do badly by not waiting too long.
— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club