Abstract:

This presentation of works by the Czech photographer and teacher Pavel Mára (b. 1951) is based on a selection of four scholarly articles that were written about him (and are published here in their entirety or in part). Together with his biographical information and a brief overview of his exhibitions at home and abroad, the magazine provides information about Mára’s activity as a creative photographer. The articles, by Anna Fárová (1989), Tomáš Pospěch (2012), Antonín Dufek (2015), and Radana Ulverová (2017), are arranged chronologically. They offer interpretations of his key series, which move between description and abstraction, which he began in the 1980s and has occasionally returned to in variations. The articles are accompanied by more than forty photographs, in black-and-white and in colour, most of which were made as triptychs. They provide a cross-section of the individual series, mostly portraits and nudes, indicating the importance of Mára’s work in the contemporary Czech and international contexts.

Key words:

Contemporary Czech photography, Pavel Mára, portrait, nude, descriptive and abstract photography, large-format photography, conceptual photography, photographic series, Anna Fárová, Tomáš Pospěch, Antonín Dufek, Radana Ulverová.