Jiří Růžek
Encyclopedia
Jiří Růžek (ˈjɪr̝iː ˈruːˈʒek, born 29 August 1967, in Litoměřice
, Czechoslovakia
) is a Czech art photographer
.
. Then his family moved to a small village Libochovany
, where he lived till the age of 22 (1989), when he went to serve in the Czechoslovak Army (was in the army during the Velvet Revolution
).
1981-1985 studied at the Gymnazium in Litomerice, where he started to play bass guitar
and sing in various rock
, folk
and jazz
bands
. He stopped playing with the bands in 2005.
1983-1988 studied lyrics and scenarios writing at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory
.
In 1995, when he was 28, he took photographs for CD album of the Please Don't Care band. Later he took photos of various rock bands and asked his friend Martina Cyrkvova, who was a fashion
model
, if she could stand as a model for him.
In 2004 he moved from his hometown to Prague
, Czech Republic
, where he lives and works now. He lives with architect
and photographer Ludmila Foblová.
. Since 2006 his photographs have been published in various printed or internet magazines and his prints are included in private collections around the world.
In 2004 - 2005 he photographed some bodypainting series in collaboration with Croatia
n artist
Tea Hatadi.
He also takes anaglyph
photographs.
In July 2009, his photograph named České středohoří
(Czech Middle Mountains - the title reminds the area where he was born) won the Grand Prize in Reflex magazine
Best Nude Photo contest.
A member of Syndicate of the Czech Republic Photographers, Union of Czech Photographers and Czech Federation of Photographic Art.
Litomerice
Litoměřice is a town at the junction of the rivers Elbe and Ohře in the north part of the Czech Republic, approximately 64 km northwest of Prague....
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
) is a Czech art photographer
Fine art photography
Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer as artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism, which provides a visual account for news events, and commercial photography, the primary focus of which is to...
.
Life
Descends from a family without any artistic background. Until his age of 7 he lived in Litoměřice, a picturesque town in northern BohemiaBohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. Then his family moved to a small village Libochovany
Libochovany
Libochovany is a village and municipality in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 586 ....
, where he lived till the age of 22 (1989), when he went to serve in the Czechoslovak Army (was in the army during the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
).
1981-1985 studied at the Gymnazium in Litomerice, where he started to play bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and sing in various rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bands
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
. He stopped playing with the bands in 2005.
1983-1988 studied lyrics and scenarios writing at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory
Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory
Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory , located in Prague, Czech Republic, is a conservatory specializing in contemporary music. Known primarily as a school for jazz and commercial music, it also offers a six-year undergraduate diploma in Classical music, composition, conducting, scriptwriting and musical...
.
In 1995, when he was 28, he took photographs for CD album of the Please Don't Care band. Later he took photos of various rock bands and asked his friend Martina Cyrkvova, who was a fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, if she could stand as a model for him.
In 2004 he moved from his hometown to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, where he lives and works now. He lives with architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and photographer Ludmila Foblová.
Work
His work is mostly noted for the black-and-white artistic nude portrait photographsNude photography
Nude photography is a style of art photography which depicts the nude human body as a study. Nude photography should be distinguished from glamour photography, which places more emphasis on the model and her/his sexuality, and treats the model as the primary subject. Nude photography should also be...
. Since 2006 his photographs have been published in various printed or internet magazines and his prints are included in private collections around the world.
In 2004 - 2005 he photographed some bodypainting series in collaboration with Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Tea Hatadi.
He also takes anaglyph
Anaglyph image
Anaglyph images are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses where the two lenses are different colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect...
photographs.
In July 2009, his photograph named České středohoří
Ceské Stredohorí
České středohoří or Central Bohemian Uplands is a mountain range located in northern Bohemia, Czech Republic. The range is about 80 km long, spanning from Česká Lípa to Bílina and from Litoměřice to Děčín , intersected by the river Elbe.The name středohoří can be roughly translated into English...
(Czech Middle Mountains - the title reminds the area where he was born) won the Grand Prize in Reflex magazine
Reflex (magazine)
Reflex is a Czech weekly magazine focusing on political, social and cultural topics. It was founded in 1990 and is currently owned by the Swiss media corporation Ringier. It is one of the Czech Republic's most controversial and widely read social-political magazines; its print circulation of 60,000...
Best Nude Photo contest.
A member of Syndicate of the Czech Republic Photographers, Union of Czech Photographers and Czech Federation of Photographic Art.
Exhibitions
- Holešovická kavárna 2006, Praha
- Jiří Růžek - Akty 2007 (1. Holešovická kavárna Praha)
- DesignblokDesignblokDesignblok is a design festival held in Prague, Czech Republic annually in October since 1999.-History:The festival was inspired by Milan Design Week. The first edititon of the festival in 1999 had fourteen participants, and was aimed at people working in the design industry...
festival 2009 (Superstudio A4 Holešovický pivovar, Prague) - Prague Photo 2010 (Exhibition Hall Mánes, Prague)
- Jiří Růžek - Holky v altánu/Girls in the Arbor 2010 (Viniční altán, Prague)
- Maximální fotografie 2010 (Castle RudolticeRudolticeRudoltice is a village in the Ústí nad Orlicí District of Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants.-Geography:Rudoltice is located at , at the foothills of Orlické hory in Podorlická pahorkatina near the Bohemian-Moravian border within the historical land Bohemia. It is close to town...
) - Jiří Růžek - V lůně středohoří 2010 (Photogallery Na Baště Litoměřice)
- Digiforum 2010 (Clarion Congress Hotel, Prague; common exhibition with Jan SaudekJan SaudekJan Saudek is a Czech art photographer.- Life :Saudek's father was a Jew and the family was therefore persecuted by Germans. Many of his family members died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during World War II. Jan and his brother Karel were held in a children's concentration camp located...
, Robert VanoRobert VanoRobert Vano is a Slovak photographer currently residing in Prague.-Life and Work:He was born in Nové Zámky, Slovakia, to parents of Hungarian descent...
etc...) - Art For Sue Ryder 2010 (Sue Ryder, Prague)
- Základní Instinkt/Basic Instinct 2010 (Malostranská Beseda, Prague)
- Základní Instinkt/Basic Instinct 2011 (Langhans Gallery, Prague)
- Naked in Algarve, 2011 (Galeria Arte Algarve, LagoaLagoa (Algarve)Lagoa Municipality is a Portuguese municipality in Faro District, in the region known as the Algarve, with about 6,100 inhabitants.Its seat is the city of Lagoa....
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
) - Art fair Arte Algarve IV, 2011 (Única - Adega Cooperativa do Algarve em Lagoa, Lagoa, Portugal)
Awards
- Akty X 2009 - 1st prize (Reflex magazine best nude photo contest)
- Základní instinkt 2010 - 1st prize (spring semifinal of the Instinkt magazine best nude photo contest)
Books
- Transit (2009, Euphoria Factory, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) ISBN 978-4-06-379405-2 - Nude Photography (2010, Loft Publications, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
/Frechmann GmbH., GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) ISBN 978-84-92731-00-8 - Dame tus ojos (2011, Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, Spain, cover photo) ISBN 978-84-253-4574-6 - Fetish Fantasies (2011, Feierabend Unique Books, Germany) ISBN 978-3-939998-77-8
- Pussy Mania (2011, Edition Skylight, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) ISBN 978-3-03766-622-7 - Nude Closeup (2011, Publishers Graphics, USA) ISBN 978-0-9847499-0-4
Quotes
- "The beauty of woman body goes hand in hand with the secrets of her soul and you can't see them separately, if you want to capture and express this complex called Woman. ... It can sound like a cliche, but if we respect HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
in modern music, we must respect NewtonHelmut NewtonHelmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...
in modern photography. ... Do you think I already have my own style? :) I think it's a neverending story and when I'll think I have found it, maybe it will be the right time to stop taking photos." Quoted in The Universe d'Artistes interview, November 26, 2007
- "What I want? To take a photo you will remember." Quoted in Reflex, August 19, 2009