JAROMI
́
R FUNKE
Czech
In the history of Czech photography Jaromı ́r Funke
(1896–1945) is considered both a pioneer of the
modern view of photography in the 1920s and
1930s, as well as one of the most influential intellec-
tuals and pedagogues. Next to Karel Teige, con-
cerning his journalistic activities, and Josef Sudek,
concerning his photographic work, he is without
any doubt one of the most important personalities
of the left cultural scene of those years.
Funke, from a wealthy family, photographed
since his twelfth year. In his first self portrait he
selected a photograph in the mirror, as if he wanted
to point out that not only the photographed one is
of importance, but also the way in which the photo
was composed.
His study of medicine (which he had probably
begun in 1915, in order to escape war service) he
gave up in 1919 and then studied law at his father’s
request. His first painting and graphic attempts
(which he sent for evaluation to Karel Teige)
showed him that talent was lacking. Later he spoke
of the fact that an internal need to express himself
‘‘in pictures’’ led him to choose photography.
In 1922, Funke discontinued his law studies
without any exams. He decided to dedicate himself
mainly to photography. His first photographic
attempts, which he sent to the magazine ‘‘Fotogra-
ficky ́obzor’’ (Photographic Review), and which are
reminiscent of the work of Jacques Henri Lartigue,
were not published. It was only in 1924 that the
Swiss magazineCameraprinted—along with his
articles on photography—his photographs. This
was Funke’s breakthrough in the Czech photo-
graphic circles. Invitations to exhibitions Paris
and Toronto followed.
Against the generally prevailing pictorialist
trend, Funke regarded the brightness and the ac-
curacy of the photograph as its most important
characteristic: He called it ‘‘photoingenuity,’’
which can only be achieved by the lens of the cam-
era. He defined modern photography as precise,
with sharpness, eschewing manipulation or re-
touching of both the negative and positive. Accord-
ing to Funke, the photographer can achieve great
success within the documentary and artistic tradi-
tions, if he avoids the prevailing ‘‘impressionistic’’
style. With his articles Funke commented on his
own development, which had begun with the ar-
ranged experimental series ‘‘Still life,’’done in 1923.
In his studio work, Funke photographed plates,
glasses, phials, and transparent geometrical objects
in elegant arrangements; these materials were sup-
plemented (1924) by pasteboard or cardboard geo-
metric forms. Style screen means were thereby the
shade, which delineated the forms by exact light
direction. Thus in the photograph ‘‘Spira ́la’’ (Spi-
ral) shades of gray are embodied in the area of a
triangle form as a result of the lighting. Funke
began in 1925 to experiment with photographic
abstraction using patterns of light and shade cre-
ated by objects off-camera rather than the objects
themselves. Funke saw therein a further confirma-
tion of his thesis of ‘‘photoingenuity,’’ by which it
additionally wins more autonomy: Those ‘‘light-
abstractions’’ confirm the ‘‘essence of the pho-
tography, which is developed by light and not
by objects.’’
In one article in ‘‘Fotograficky ́obzor’’ (Photo-
graphic Review, 1927) Funke dissociated himself
from the Rayograms of Man Ray. For him a
photograph is possible only as shot through the
camera, and every photographic ‘‘product’’ that is
created without it is not authentic:Those photographic specialities are not any more photo-
graphs. It finds neither a release act (of an interaction
between successful shot and successful development,
which expresses in consequence perfectly the creative
idea M.Ch.) nor a gesture of release and still less the
solution itself of a taken over task.This criticism, which Funke employed on the il-
lustrations of the surrealistic book of ‘‘Les champs
de ́licieux’’ by Man Ray, he repeated again in a man-
ifesto project, which he addressed together with
Frantisˇek Drtikol to the artist union ‘‘Umeˇlecka ́
beseda’’ (Artist Federation) in Prague. Both photo-
graphers rejected pictorialism and suggested a new
modern direction. Funke and Drtikol began to
experiment at the same time with the conscious inte-
gration of light and shadow into the photographicFUNKE, JAROMI ́R