Jaroslav Rössler

ISBN: 80-7215-139-8|Published: 2001|Pages: 184|SOLD
Binding: Softbound|Format: 160 x 180 mm|Graphic design: Pavel Lev, Studio Najbrt

Though Jaroslav Rössler (1902–1990) is one of the most important Czech avant-garde photographers and his work from the first half of the 1920s ranks among the earliest and most radical examples of the application of Abstract and Constructivist principles to photography, this long-awaited book is the first ever on Rössler’s life and art. Rössler started as an assistant to František Drtikol, but quickly abandoned the pictorial style of his renowned teacher and began to focus on minimalist details of actual objects and on geometric paper cut-outs, abstract compositions with shadow and light, inventive photomontages, and Constructivist shots of modern engineering and architecture. In 1923 he was invited to join Devětsil, and thus became the only photographer in the most famous Czech avant-garde group of artists and writers. During his Paris sojourn, 1927–35, he worked in several important studios, mainly making modern photographs for advertisements, while continuing to experiment freely on his own. Later, after a long hiatus, he returned to experimentation in the mid-1950s and once again contributed to the latest artistic trends in a truly original way. The author, Vladimír Birgus, is a professor at the School of Film, TV, and Photography, Prague.