Josef Sudek, the 'Poet of Prague', had a legendary career spanning almost six decades. His craftsmanship and technical virtuosity were unparalleled among his contemporaries. Faced with the legacy of cubism, surrealism and the Czech avantgarde, Sudek sought his own approach, characterized by a striking mastery of light.

Rückseite Titelblatt: Published in conjunction with the exhibition "The Intimate World of Josef Sudek", organized by the Canadian Photography Institute of the National Gallery of Canada and held at the Jeu de Paume, Paris, June 7-September 25, 2016 and at the National Gallery of Canada, October 28, 2016-March 19, 2017. -.

"Timm Rautert met Josef Sudek for the first time on a study trip to Prague in the spring of 1967. The photography student and the seventy-one-year-old Sudek instantly took to each other, and Rautert began photographing the artist at his studio and home. He accompanied him on his strolls in parks in Little Prague on the left bank of the Vltava river as he searched for adequate perspectives, and documented his work process in and outside the darkroom. The Sudek series is an extraordinary chronicle of a fascinating personality and place in the run-up to the Prague Spring, and marks the beginning of Rautert's career during which the portrait and people at work were always of major importance to him." -- publisher's description

Czech photographer Josef Sudek, who is best known for his moody, Romantic shots of still lifes and street scenes, was an influential advertising pioneer. Though this commercial aspect of his oeuvre is often overlooked, he collaborated with designer Ladislav Sutnar and architect Otto Rothmayer to create striking ads that rival the work of better-known contemporaries. This aspect of his career was short lived, however. The nationalization of privately owned businesses in Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War, coupled with the Communist takeover of 1948, made advertising largely superfluous. In this volume, Sudek's striking commercial portfolio is presented for the first time. The book includes an introduction by Czech Modern art historian Vojtech Lahoda, as well as a complete bibliography. In 1978, Sonja Bullaty-a former student of Sudek's-edited the first monograph of his work, which firmly established his reputation as one of the great photographers of the twentieth century. That volume was unrivaled prior to the publication of this monograph, which, in concert with two other concurrently published books, creates the most extensive compilation of Sudek's work to date.

From his panoramic views of Pragueto his enigmatic still lifes and reflections in the misty window of his studio, photographer Josef Sudek captured the unique spirit of the Czech capital between the 1920s and 1970s. Already in his lifetime, Sudek enjoyed a worldwide reputation?and yet a substantial part of his practice, dedicated to photographing works of art, has remained largely unknown until now.00This book shines a light on Sudek?s most beloved topic?sculpture?which acted as a bridge between his fine art photography and his commercial work. Sumptuous full-page reproductions of Sudek?s black-and-white photographs illustrate a series of thematic essays, focusing on the scope and legacy of his work; while cameos of the key people and institutions supporting his career reveal Sudek?s rich connection to the artistic circles and tendencies of his day. Together, they uncover the shifting tension between the ability of photographs to bring art closer to the people and their potential as works of art in their own right, raising important questions for the history of photography.00?Sculpture is a living thing and must be photographed as if alive.?0Josef Sudek (1957).

Josef Sudek (1896-1976) began his career in photography by submitting prints to international salons, competitions in which photographs were assessed by a jury, and the results published in a salon yearbook. From the start, Sudek's work met with great success at the salons, alongside that of Drtikol, Krupka and others, but it was only with the series From My Studio Window, which originated during World War II, that his name found wider fame. As a result, Sudek's salon photographs, dating from his return from World War I in 1918 until around 1932 (by which time he had begun his own business), have tended to be overlooked. The Unknown Josef Sudek retrieves these early works: beautiful still lifes, portraits, street scenes and interiors. Presenting the largest collection of this work to date, the publication reevaluates the importance of the photographer's earliest experiments, and demonstrates how he used the salons as a testing ground for new ideas.

This volume - investigating the work of a particular photographer, in this case, Josef Sudek - comprises a 4000-word essay by an expert in the field, 55 photographs presented chronologically, each with a commentary, and a biography of the featured photographer.

No other cycle of Josef Sudek's photos depicts the artist's beloved city as a record of many Prague localities as nostalgic witnesses to the passage of time. The elongated format of his photographs enabled him not only to command a truly panoramic view of Prague: he himself was probably surprised by the resultant optic deformations whose distinctly expressive tinge offered by his old Kodak camera provided him with a golden opportunity of evoking--in his unique style--the rendition of various forms by his older friends--Czech cubists.--From book jacket.

Josef Sudek is counted among the greatest personalities in photography this century. He was born in 1896 in Bohemia, and was severely wounded in the First World War, losing his right arm. In the early Twenties he founded, together with other photographers, the Czech Photographic Society. He made a name for himself with photographs of the reconstruction of Prague Cathedral as the official photographer of the City of Prague. He is known today for his mastery of still life and nature photographs. His lyrical, realistic photographs, often with a background of filtered daylight, direct sunlight or grey skies, are melancholy, elegiac and sad. His poetic vision takes the viewer into the world of Franz Kafka and Jaroslav Seifert.