Jan Jirkovský photographs life in all its forms. His pictures show moments of joy, such as when swimmer Filip Jícha crossed the English Channel, but also moments of pain – for example, when an imprisoned man looks at a photo of his son. “It was an exceptional year for me,” says Jirkovský. “Especially because he brought me my first foreign exhibition,” he adds. We present his pictures as part of the Photos of the Year series.
(9th part of the series) – Jan Jirkovský focuses mainly on documentary, reportage photography and street photography. His set of pictures, which depict the life of people serving a sentence, was exhibited this year in Strasbourg, in the building of the Council of Europe. He usually photographs mainly in the Czech Republic, where he benefits from a good knowledge of the environment and subjects he photographs.
Nevertheless, this year he went far beyond the borders when taking pictures, even as far as Dover, England. “I worked there for a week on a report about the Czech swimmer Filip Jich, who successfully attempted to cross the English Channel,” he says.
Readers could meet his work during the year on the Aktuálně.cz website, but many photography fans know him also thanks to the Street Report group he founded. It focuses on street photography and is something between a classic photo club and a Facebook group, the number of members of which is already approaching three thousand.
The Photos of the Year series has an unconventional form this year
The “Top Photo” series has been on the Aktuálně.cz website for several years. This time it comes under the new title Photos of the Year. While in previous years he usually started with the best news photographs created for Aktuálně.cz, Hospodářské noviny, the Ekonom weekly and other projects of the Economia publishing house, now it is different. The series started during the Christmas holidays with photo galleries focused on lighter lifestyle topics. We decided to include those focused on news, reportage and documentaries only at the turn of the old and new year.
The goal of the Photos of the Year series is not only to commemorate interesting events, but also to appreciate the work of photographers and to show how excellent images they create in one year. Photographers have a completely free hand when choosing them, it is their author’s choice.
About the author of the images:
Jan Jirkovský (50 years old). Freelance photographer engaged in reportage and documentary work with a focus on social issues. Member of the 1st ČKFA Nekázanka photo club and founder of the Facebook group STREET REPORT. His pictures regularly appear at author exhibitions throughout the country and on Aktuálně.cz. You can also follow his work on the website: www.jjfoto.cz.
You can find all published parts of the series Photos of the Year at: magazin.aktualne.cz/foto.
