Evzen Sobek – Life In Blue
Sobek started a project called “Life in Blue”. Camping at a lake is a normal Czech summertime activity, but, even so, this is a first artistic documenting of said activity.
They evoke a colored theme of what would normally be considered the mundane, not unlike William Eggleston. With further viewing, we come to realize the strange juxtaposition of human interaction with nature – a controlled natural environment molded into a forced leisure play thing. But with his Hassy in tow, it is amazing how many people are fine with his artistic intrusions.
By “camping” in a preset location, year after year, sort of bastardizes the concept of discovery normally associated with going back to the continuous movement of a gypsy culture.
Holiday in the Slums?
Their dwellings are almost a copy of those found in the slums of Rio or the ghettos of certain cities. What would motivate someone to essentially ‘summer’ in a fake slum? Is it the proximity of water that makes it so desirable for a rising Czech middle class?
Besides fishing, is it the escape from any city environment, and getting close to the meditative qualities of nature, no matter how stained by a human presence? Mind boggling is the escapist mindset, yet communal nature of these fake villages, promoting social interaction, romantic and otherwise. Or maybe it’s exactly the lack of that communal human interaction lacking in the formal structure of the city.
The book is really for those delving deeply into the art photography world, no matter how esoteric that may be.
Evzen Sobek – A Teaching Artist
Evzen Sobek was born in 1967 in the Czech Republic, and teaches photography at the Institute of Creative Photography. The focal point of his work is documentary photography more so than art. While this is not a widely known artist, and I do understand that people really gravitate towards images of sexy women. (and men) The serious artists of the world who have something to say deserve exposure.
The project Life in Blue is taken with a Hasselblad on film. Find Hasselblad 500
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