Jan Saudek

Saudek was still a young child when the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939. They deported his father Gustav, who was Jewish, to the Theresienstadt Terezín concentration camp, 60 kilometers miles north of Prague, just a few months before the Second World War ended. Many of the photographer’s family members perished in the notorious fortress, from where inmates were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and other concentration camps, although Gustav survived. Meanwhile, Jan and Karel were detained in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where Josef Mengele carried out his monstrous experiments, especially on twins. Saudek and his twin brother escaped this fate and ultimately survived.

When the Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia three years after the Second World War, Saudek was just entering his teens, and a couple of years later he acquired his first camera, a Kodak Baby Brownie in 1950. He worked for a photographer, and in 1952 became a print shop worker, where he stayed until 1983. As the 1950s progressed, Jan Saudek developed his photography skills, and he also started to develop his skills in painting and drawing. Military service followed in 1955, and his next step was to pursue his photography career, after seeing the exhibit catalogue of Steichen’s Family of Man, at some point during the 1960s. Saudek also reveled in the era of rock and roll, which had arrived, and the music of bands such as The Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison inspired him. During the more liberal political climate of the Prague Spring, Saudek traveled to the United States and was encouraged by Hugh Edwards, head of photography at the Chicago Institute of Art. He also held his first exhibition, in the USA, at the University of Indiana.

Saudek returned to Prague, and in the years that followed were characterized by moderate success but also bouts of deep despair. In the 1970s his work was not well known, and he was plagued from depression. Drugs were his attempt to deal with his problems. His son David also suffered from a long illness throughout this decade. In 1983, he gained a wider audience through the publication of The World of Jan Saudek, the first book in English on his work. That same year he also became recognized as freelance photographer, and Saudek could now apply for permission to be an artist. Despite these moves forward, Saudek continued to suffer, and 1987, negatives of his photographs were seized by his family in a blackmail attempt, although they were returned five months later. He described the period “as probably the worst time of my life”.

Jan Saudek is most well-known for scenes with nude or semi-nude figures – ordinary people – against a backdrop of bare plaster walls or painted backdrops, which appear repeatedly in his works. Other backdrops include cloudy skies or Charles Bridge. In many works he adds tints to colours, giving the images a dreamy feel. Many earlier works, from the 1960s, are in black and white and have a different, more naturalistic feel. Recurring themes feature strongly in Saudek’s work, for example childhood, and the relationship between men and women. He also uses the same models over again in his photography.