Stecha, Pavel 1944-

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STECHA, Pavel 1944-

PERSONAL: Born December 20, 1944; in Prague, Czechoslovakia; married Alice Bubníková, 1969; children: Martina. Education: FAMU (Film & TV Faculty of Academy of Performing Arts), Prague, 1967-71; Fulbright scholar, 1990.

ADDRESSES: Home—V Horce 189, Cz-25228 Cernosice, Czech Republic.

CAREER: Photographer; FAMU, Prague, assistant lecturer, 1975-78, senior lecturer, 1978-90; Department of Photography, Prague University of Arts, Design, and Architecture, founder, 1994. Exhibitions: Works included in permanent collections at Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague; Moravian Gallery, Brno, Czechoslovakia; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; International Center of Photography, New York; and National Gallery, Prague. Solo exhibitions include Weekend Houses, Cinoherni Klub Theatre, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1978; Traffic, Cinoherni Klub Theatre, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1980; Hippolyte Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 1982; Istanbul, Turkey, 1989; Jerusalem Theatre, Israel, 1990; Fronta, Prague, 1992; Dortmund, Germany, 1993; and Berlin, Germany, 1993. Group exhibitions include Youth Photography Exhibition, at Photokina, Cologne, West Germany, 1968; The Rest Home at St. Thomas, Roudnice Art Gallery, Czechoslovakia, 1971 (traveled to the Fotokabinett Jaromir Funke, Brno, Czechoslovakia, 1972); Fotoforum 73, Ruzomberok, Czechoslovakia, 1973; Tschechoslowakische Fotografie 1918-78, Fotoforum der Gesamthochschule, Kassel, West Germany, 1979; 9+9, Plasy, Czechoslovakia, 1981; Topical Photography, Moravian Gallery, Brno, Czechoslovakia, 1982; Czechoslovakian Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, 1984; 27 Contemporary Czechoslovakian Photographers, The Photographers' Gallery, London, England, 1985; 37 Photographers, 1989; and Choice, Houston Fotofest, Houston, TX, 1990. Military service: Czech Army, 1963-65.

AWARDS, HONORS: Youth Photography International Prize, Photokina, 1968; World Press Photo award, 1992.

WRITINGS:

Heart of Europe, Artia.

(Photo-illustrator) Prag im Herzen Europas, text by Bohumir Mráz, Dausien (Hanau, Germany), 1986.

(Photo-illustrator) Domovní znamení staré Prahy (title means "House Signs in Old Prague"), text by Lydia Petránová, Panorama (Prague, Czechoslovakia), 1988.

Listopad '89, Odeon.

(With Jiri Matejka) Dobe navzdory, Orbis Pictus (Prague, Czechoslovakia), 1990.

(With Arno Parik) The Jewish Town of Prague, Oswald (Prague, Czechoslovakia), 1992.

Prague—Hidden Splendours, Flammarion (Paris, France), 1993.

Prague Passages et Galleries (title means "Prague Passages and Galleries"), [Norma, France], 1993.

Contributor to publications, including Revue Fotografie and Fotografie.

SIDELIGHTS: Czech photographer Pavel Stecha's work, much of which examines man's habitation within his dwelling and town, has been done in conjunction with social scientists. Stecha, who studied under photographers Anna Fárová and Ján Smok and attended the FAMU Arts Academy, has explored old houses on the verge of being torn down and has featured, in a gallery of portraits, the men and women inside them. At other times, he has turned to new Czech neighborhoods and their bright-eyed inhabitants.

One Stecha study features portraits of log-cabin owners standing outside their weekend cottages. This early series inspired a follow-up project fifteen years later. The more recent photographs document the effects of time: homeowners have aged but, in many cases, their houses appear renewed. For the updated study, Stecha invited dwellers to hold up his portraits of themselves and their weekend houses taken fifteen years earlier. The dated works were enlarged to emphasize the before-and-after intensity. Critics have suggested that in the neighborhood project, Stecha aims to address sociological questions and have noted that he could reveal an entire environment through one situation. Stecha's study of the new neighborhoods, the writer said, was equally successful.

Another favorite Stecha subject is municipal transportation: traffic, people, buses, cars, and the subway system. He examines the growing distance between modern districts and city centers. The photographer said of his own work, "I believe in the power and narrative potential of thematic photography, as opposed to the single, all-encompassing picture."

Stecha's photographs have been the subject of several books. While he photographs mostly in Prague and neighboring regions, his assignments and experiments have also taken him to the industrial center of Ostrava.