Personalities of Czech Photography

This series of postcards from the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague provides a striking example of the transition from Pictorialism towards straight photography among twentieth-century photographers. The postcards were issued in 1973 to accompany the exhibition Personalities of Czech Photography, and feature work by Czech photographers of the 1920s and 1930s such as Jindrich Styrsky, Jiří Jeníček, Jaromír Funke, Jan Lauschmann, Jaroslav Rössler, and Frantisek Drtikol. 

Many of these postcards offer unique perspectives by playing with the light, shadows, and geometric forms found in city streets. The city is familiar yet also made strange due to these unique perspectives, calling to mind Surrealist photographers, some of whom were inspired by French photographer Eugène Atget.