JOSEF FOUSEK
Kladno, Czech Republic


ČESKÁ VERZE

Thank you for visiting my site!



I was born in 1939 in Kladno, Czechoslovakia, and studied fine art photography with professor Ján Šmok in Prague. During the communist regime in Czechoslovakia I was for some time a persona non grata in the art world and took many jobs as a laborer to support my family.

After work I spent countless hours in my homemade darkroom creating black and white photomontages OBRAZY DUŠE (Soulscapes) as a reaction to the only officially allowed communist cultural doctrine of socialist realism. The technique of mixing multiple images gave me a means to express myself; my feelings of life behind the iron curtain in a climate of despair and fears on one hand and hope on the other.

In 1979 I started my regular cooperation with the legendary Semafor theatre in Prague as a songwriter and guest performer, which lasted until 1998.

Later, after the collapse of communism, I could for the first time travel abroad and exhibit my photographs and perform my songs and poetry in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and the United States.

I am also an author of many books and recordings. Currently I continue writing, recording and performing recitals all around the country and abroad, either alone or with my son Tomáš. I also continue working on my long term, self-imposed assignment of photographing "ordinary folks" - LIDIČKY.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my images and thank you for visiting my site.


Josef Fousek
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