Fotograf Magazine

She was nominated for the award by Jan H. Vitvar, cultural editor at Respekt magazine, in respect to the publication of her journal-memoir Černé roky (Black Years). However, his justification could also be applied to Evokativ, the album under review: “Libuše Jarcovjáková, creating at the edges of both the art scene and society, has shown herself to be one of the most important figures in the history of Czech photography. This is not an overstatement. Her prerevolution work has no local equals in its intensity, honesty, and energy, and in many respects surpasses the international photographers whose work has been taught at universities for decades.”

This new book was published to accompany a retrospective attached to the Rencontres d’Arles 2019 festival. The British daily The Guardian declared Evokativ the exhibition of the year. This dual event is rightly considered a suggestive reckoning of
the 1970s and 1980s. It captured the visual core of how the photographer lived. (As for words, the author limited herself only to a succinct summary of her memories.)

Although Jarcovjáková’s life in her native Prague was a hellish spiral of hopelessness, she managed to graduate from the photography department at FAMU. I borrowed her diploma opus on Robert Frank and read it with interest. It is no accident that what I find in her notes is what inspired and captivated her about Frank: “He stopped showing pictures and started showing emotions. With that, he opened a new space in photography.”