Jaromir Funke - Apples

Jaromir Funke - Apples

(Modernism in Central Europe - Exhibition at the Washington National Gallery)

Apples – such an elegant close-up!

Funke was a leading figure in Czech photography in the 1920s and 30s. In 1924 he, Josef Sudek and Adolf Schneeberger founded the Czech Photographic Society. Funke headed the photography department at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bratislava and was editor of the journal Fotografický obzor (Photographic Horizons) for several years (Wikipedia).

Here are some more works of Funke. The Visual Force of Posters: the eye there is haunting; like the one from the Man with a Movie Camera it gives a metaphysical dimension to the image. The next photo is named New Architecture: it has the delicacy of Sheeler’s drawings. Follows a study of shadows. There is a subtle tension in this photo: a drama where the main characters (the objects) seem to be present only to send their shadows. The same with the two other photographs: the Spiral seems to have holistic properties, telling us somehow the story of the whole room; the Abstraction (the name of the last image) is not so much about the nude as it is about relationships between nude, run, shadows.

(Modernism in Central Europe)