(b Prague, 13 May 1935). Czech photographer. He studied at the School of Industrial Photography, Prague (1950–52). He worked as a reproduction photographer for various firms in Prague until 1980, when he became freelance. Saudek’s Jewish origins meant that during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia he was interned in a children’s concentration camp with his twin brother, Karel. These terrifying experiences of early childhood were instrumental in shaping his photography. In his ‘theatre of life’, as he called his work, he focused on the basic relationships of members of the family. He depicted the problems of childhood and adolescence as tormenting phantoms, and his work seems a quest for love, liberty and emotional reassurance. |