Customer Reviews

Josef Sudek: Poet Of Prague (Aperture Monograph)

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Josef Sudek was an amazing man, talent, and visionary. This monograph is one of very few that were widely distributed to help tell his story and share his hard-earned images. Imagine, Aperture, a magazine with only 2 issues per year, dedicated to the best of all things photographic, devoted an entire year of publication to Sudek. My favorite mental image of Sudek is of he himself finally shooting his muse, a church in Prague, his only arm franticly fanning up dust with a card as he rushed from this beam of light to another, so as to give the light volume in the image. You see, Sudek was a very patient master... until the image was ready to be taken. He might scout a location for years before shooting it, waiting for just the right time of year, just the right angle of light, and just the right atmospheric conditions around his subject. Then when the day came to shoot, he was a focused madman. In my eyes, Sudek IS photography, and this monograph is the most inexpensive, most thorough background of the man and his work. Although not the most thorough collection of his work, it is an excellent introduction that will leave you searching for more about him. Good luck, and enjoy!

Sudek inspired the entire world of his countrymen and women, and now we can also join in the feast of his imagery. Astounding in breadth and scope, these poetic photographs reveal a time gone, yet eerily present. If you write and photograph as well, this book is pure inspiration. Dark, moody, yet uplifting. Speaks to the treasure of time as it is captured with quiet energy and subtle tone and value.
He lost one arm in World War I, but that did not stop him from using a camera to record the world he witnessed all the rest of his life. His images of Prague are arresting and pull you into the streets as he saw them. Very very good book; a treasure to own.