Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-10-05)

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Legends

of photography

O

ftenis thetime

wewonder:

whatkindof

charactermakesa

goodphotographer?We’ve

speculatedaboutit countless

timesinthepagesofAP.Even

after 135 years,we’veyettofind

ananswer.Perhapsbytheir

verynature,photographersare

outsiders,lens-totingspectres

driftingacrosstheperiphery,

capturingslicesofreality

andshowingtheworldback

toitself.Butthensometimes

thatoutsiderstatuscanbethe

resultofonesimplething:they

areforeigntothelandthat

they are documenting.

Markéta

Luskačová

Here’sonesuch

photographer:Markéta

Luskačová,a Czech-born

photographerwhofirstmoved

totheUKin1975.Priortothis

shehadlivedinPragueand

Slovakiaandmadea namefor

herselfwithherthesisand

documentsofoldChristian

rites.Followingthis,in 1970

and 1972 shephotographed

stageperformancesoftheZa

branoutheatre,a venturethat

inthecommunistturmoilof

contemporaryCzechpolitical

historywasbanned.It wasthis

sameturmoilthatdrove

Luskačová’shusband,thepoet

Franz H Wurm, to flee to

a familytuckingintocloudsof

candyfloss.Luskačová’swork

benefitsfromthefactthat

whenwelookatthepeoplein

herimages,weneednotfear

thatwedosowithjudgement

ormockingsmiles.

Thereis a curiositycertainly,

butit’sonethatcomesfrom

theheart.Thepeopledonot

simplyserveascompositional

anchors;theyaretherebecause

theyarethecontext,orrather

theirsenseofcommunityis

thecontext.That’sthekeyto

Luskačová’swork:familiesand

communities.It’swhatshe

mentionstimeandagainwhen

discussingtheseimages.She

loveshowhappytheyare.

If that’sthekeytoherwork

thenperhapsthat’seventhe

keytowhatkindofcharacter

makesa goodphotographer–

someonewhoratherthanbeing

anoutsider,insteadembraces,

celebratesanddocumentsfor

ouredificationtheideaof

peopleandourinherent

needforcommunity.

TheCzech-bornphotographerturned

hereyetotheseasideincelebration of

people, findsOliver Atwell

Britainwherehehad

citizenship.Luskačovájoined

hima littlelater.It washere

shebefriendeddocumentary

photographerChrisKillipand,

in1976,embarkedona tripto

visithiminNorthEast

England.Whilethere,shewas

firstexposedtoWhitleyBay,a

havenforfamilieslookingfor

a cheapbeachholiday.Despite

thegreyskiesandunrelenting

winds,Luskačováwitnessed

peopleoverjoyedbytheir

surroundings.Whenin 1978

shewascommissionedby

Amber,a filmandphotography

collective,tophotographNorth

EastEngland,shewasdrawn

backtothiscoastallocation.

It’sderigueurtomention

MartinParrwhendiscussing

seasidephotographybutit’s

germanehereasLuskačová’s

imageswererecentlydisplayed

intheMartinParrFoundation

inBristol.Luskačová’simages

lacktheglossandgarnishof

Parr’sownseasidedocuments,

buttheyfeeldowntoearthand

tactile.Theyfeelrelatableand

nostalgic,evenforthoseofus

notyetbornwhenLuskačová’s

fingerhitthatshutterand

forever captured, for example,

© MARKÉTA

LUSKA

čOVÁ

© JAN ZIROVNICK Y

WhitleyBay,

1980

BytheSea:PhotographsfromtheNorthEast,

1976-1980byMarkétaLuskačová,RRB

PhotoBooks,£45, 134 pages, hardcover,

ISBN 978-1916057519