Kratochvíl Antonín

Antonín Kratochvíl (*1947) is a Czech portrait and documentary photographer living in USA.

Antonín Kratochvíl's photographs emphasize images of hardship, despair, alienation, pain, sadness and misery, as well as the arrogance of power and its consequences in various parts of the world. They present historical testimonies of tumultuous modern global social and civilizational problems as well as war conflicts (Afghanistan, Bosnia, the Philippines, Haiti, Iraq, Rwanda, Zaire). They capture the tragedy of humanitarian and natural disasters or the exacerbated social problems of human society as such (see epidemics, disappearing cultures, landscape devastation or drug dealer crime or insight into the lives of contemporary golden youth in Moscow, etc.).

Antonín Kratochvíl also prints the original, distinctive manuscript in portraits of show business celebrities and completely unknown, anonymous people, representing as a whole an allegory that has a specific meaning for Antonín Kratochvíl. By connecting famous personalities such as Bill Gates, Willem Dafoe, Keith Richards, Patricia Arquette, Priscilla Presley, David Bowie, Milan Hlavsa, Pavel Landovský, Jean Reno, Bob Dylan, Billy Bob Thornton, Vittorio Storaro, Kyle MacLachlan, Judith Godreche, Amanda Lear or Debbie Harry, together with the unknown faces of people from diverse backgrounds, intersected by diverse vicissitudes and experiences, collectively reflect the state of the human soul in today's world. These photos do not celebrate specific people, heroes or celebrities. Antonín Kratochvíl relativizes beauty and relationships in order to seek and find an adequate visual form for a deep statement of the perception of man as the essence of being, his personal and social space and his meaningful fulfillment in life.

source: http://ghmp.cz/antonin-kratochvil-fotoeseje/