Title: Josef Sudek
Author: Zdeněk Kirschner
Published by: Panorama, 1993
I wanted to write this short review note for my Photographer’s Library for a long time. I want to talk about one of the true masters of the craft, Josef Sudek – a Czech photographer from Prague.
The book
Zdeněk Kirschner’s Josef Sudek is a beautiful introduction to one of the most poetic photographers of the twentieth century. Published in 1993, the book brings together more than two hundred photographs and attempts to show the remarkable breadth of Sudek’s work, from Prague cityscapes and architectural studies to gardens, still lifes and his wonderfully atmospheric “mood” photographs.
The photographs have a remarkable sense of stillness. Many are quiet, melancholic and slightly dreamlike, with soft light and deep shadows. Sudek could find poetry in remarkably ordinary things, transforming his garden, studio and immediate surroundings into an almost limitless photographic world. This is perhaps the most inspiring aspect of the book: you don’t necessarily need spectacular scenery to make meaningful photographs.
So, as a conclusion, what’s my verdict?
For me, the strongest part of the book is the feeling that Sudek was not really photographing objects at all. He was photographing light, time and memory. A simple scene becomes something emotionally charged because of the way he sees it.
This is a book I would particularly recommend to photographers interested in large-format photography, landscape, still life and the quieter side of the medium. It encourages you to slow down, look harder and realise that sometimes the most powerful photograph can be found in the smallest and most ordinary corner of the world.
A beautiful reminder that photography doesn’t always need drama — sometimes atmosphere is enough.