Fotograf Magazine

The photobooks by Václav Jan Staněk (1907—1983) could be find on the shelves of many a Czech secondhand bookshop. His once popular publications were, however, surpassed by other books more in line with current scientific findings and the technique of photographic recording. Nonetheless, in the Czech context, Staněk’s photographs represent a pioneering effort to promote nature, which is especially true for his early work characterized from the very beginning by its generous ‘encyclopaedic’ scope, always with several hundreds of then unique photos, and for his activities in the field of documentary cinema, amounting to forty topical films.