Get To Know: František Dostál

Gallerist Daniel Miller, writes that he met a few Czech photographers on a trip to Prague, who brought photographer, František Dostál, to his attention. Many of Dostál’s images documented life under the Soviets. Relatively unknown in the USA, Dostál has more than 20 books to his credit in circulation in Europe. Miller noted that Dostál once received a letter from Elliott Erwitt in 1989, in which Erwitt confessed having a similar “photographic attitude.”

You can see Dostál’s work on the World WebPhoto Gallery. Make sure your browser can translate the text into your own native tongue. The website notes that the photographer has “… the ability to recognize situations that conjure a smile on the face of observers, [and] the ability to capture these situations, many of which are fleeting in seconds…” Dostál found his locations by walking around all parts of Prague. Apparently, he has been known to describe himself as a photographer/pedestrian.

Photo of the Occupation of Czechoslovakia, August 21, 1968 (detail) by František Dostál. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.