Fotograf Magazine

Viktor Šelesták represents a new type of photography that emerged only in this century. It is a peculiar type of photographical documentary, whose focus are not humans, but rather the footsteps they leave behind, the products of civilization.

Unlike his Western colleagues, Šelesták usually photographs in the “Wild East”. He focuses on the contemporary city landscape, usually in Slovakia, which is literally oversaturated with colors. It is a happy, almost joyful world, but also a desolate one. In contrary to this, his photographs are pretty, and they have it in their name – #selestakovepeknefotky (#prettyphotosbyselestak). Although they usually reflect the dissonant reality in which the author spends most of his time, they are consistent, because they are precise, almost exact. All the shots were taken with a smartphone and were over time shared on Instagram. As a visual-photographic publication, they represent something of an experiment.

Viktor Šelesták graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava – Photography and New Media, and FAMU – Photography. He participated in a group exhibition in the Slovak National Gallery (Užitočná fotografia, 2018). During his own exhibition #selestakovepeknefotky in Photoport Gallery (2019) he presented his #selestakovepeknefotky (2019) publication, which was published by Slovart. 

Aurel Hrabušický