Bohdan Holomíček’s photographs are an extraordinary visual chronicle of our lives. They capture ordinary moments, such as the photographer’s father drinking water from a forest well, as well as events that went down in history – such as the year 1968. The Torst publishing house is now preparing his new book, which captures the years of hope as well as the years of gray decline, i.e. the sixties and seventies years. It will be called Album 1958–1977.
According to the publisher Viktor Stoilov, the preparation of the new Holomíčk Book took a full seven years. “Now we are almost finished and I am really happy about it. The book will be published as Torst’s seventh publication,” he says.
Fans of Bohdan Holomíček’s work can also support the release of the forthcoming Album 1958-1977 in a campaign on the Hithit crowdfunding platform. (hithit.com/cs/project/12383/bohdan-holomicek).
The book of photographs by Bohdan Holomíček in 2000 was published by the Torst publishing house in its Fototorst edition. | Video: Torst
In most cases, Holomíček’s pictures depict the seemingly ordinary lives of the people around him. But in reality, they tell about the fact that every person is unique and that our lives have meaning. Historian of photography Anna Fárová characterized him as “a photographer of friendly meetings, capturing positive situations, moments of grace, flashes of love with the magical contribution of light”.
“His photographs are often compared to a diary, but as time goes by, it becomes more and more apparent that it is more of a memorial and a chronicle. The memorial is created in communication with others and also serves their memory. In Holomíčk’s case, it is an autobiography that becomes generational statement; his images are subjective, but they have general validity, they reflect the memories of the whole society,” states art historian Antonín Dufek.
The Torst publishing house has so far published three books with Holomíčk’s photographs. The first two from 1995 and 2000 are sold out. The third is entitled “Album Václav”, it was published in 2016 and contains Holomíčk’s pictures depicting Václav Havel, who was his close friend. “Will buy this book readers can also support the publication of the upcoming book Album 1958-1977,” says Viktor Stoilov from Torst.
“We are preparing for publication a number of photo books by Bohdan Holomíček mapping his photographic work under the unifying title Album,” explains Viktor Stoilov. “The Václav album was released first and captures Václav Havel from 1974 until his death in the circle of his closest friends, with writers, theater artists, with his wife Olga, but also with Czech and world politicians. The currently prepared Album 1958-1977 will bring pictures from the first twenty years of Holomíčk’s work “, he adds.
Bohdan Holomiček
Bohdan Holomiček (* August 14, 1943) is a contemporary Czech documentary photographer. In 2018, the Association of Professional Photographers of the Czech Republic awarded him the Personality of Czech Photography award. He has been capturing life around him through his pictures since 1958. He exhibited for the first time in 1969. In the seventies, he met Václav Havel and his wife Olga, and they became friends. Since 2004, he has been using digital technologies in his work. He has had numerous exhibitions, his pictures are represented in the collections of the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno and the Museum of Art and Design in Benešov.
