Frantisek Drtikol is my all-time favorite photographer and one of the most influential. His work had many similarities with that of the avant-garde artists during his time, but was more influenced by Eastern philosophy.
If you look at fashion editorials, you will be able to see how many photographers are still influenced by his work, especially regarding movement.
Scroll down to see a selection of his best works.
Frantisek Drtikol (1883 – 1961) was a Czech photographer who created a series of works from 1901 to 1935. His beginnings can be categorized as late Art Nouveau style in the form of portraits and nudes. However, later he was influenced by cubism and futurism due to his interest in Buddhist philosophy and practices.
As he shifted to Buddhism his work became more spiritual and ephemeral resulting in more abstract photography.
The nudes were often decorated with geometric motives and shadows, which were evidence of how cubism influenced his work. But there was also movement, which was one of the main characteristics of futurism.
He later on had a period called ‘photopurism’, which consisted of photographs where he used paper cut-outs that resembled silhouettes of the human form.
Despite his international success, after 1935 he gave up on photography to concentrate on painting still influenced by Buddhism.
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