Dušan Šimánek

Despite Dusan Siminek's distinctive, deliberate and sophisticated aesthetic, and despite occasional solo shows, his art photography has rarely been presented as such. Perhaps that's because he's better known for (and busier with) journalism, advertising, fashion and portraiture--work that attracts considerable attention of its own. This collection of the color and black-and-white work he has made for personal pleasure--for art's sake--over the past three decades seeks to reverse that dynamic. In several thematically arranged sections, this first book dedicated to Simanek's art photography traces his style as it has developed, and analyzes the seeming abstractions that are, on closer look, rooted in reality. With essays by the leading Czech historian of photography Anna Farova and art critic Lenka Lindaurova.