amy: Jan Saudek

I find conceptual photography to be my favorite, so an early Jan Saudek suited my tastes perfectly. In his early work, he seems to try and capture the beauty in the family. In general, if an artist is able to capture the true magic of a family, he or she has captured one of the greatest mysteries on earth. Saudek produces pictures that depict the incredible nature of, quintessentially, love (between the mother and the father) producing a child. Love begat the child. What an incredible start of life! When I see Saudek’s photography concerning family, this is what comes to mind. To me, this is art at its best. The very beginning of life is spiritual. We can put our scientific labels on what is happening inside a woman, but when we examine what is truly understood about existence, we are lost. Unfortunately, I feel Saudek’s later works turned away from the truthfulness that is wrapped up in his early works, which examined innocence, love, family and beauty. The later works seem to have delved into the horrors of humanity and the disgusting physicality, objectification, and vulgarity of humanity. The terror of mankind can be depicted without making the observer feeling as though he also is violating his own conscience. Many of his later works made me feel ashamed of even supporting the type of artwork that works at putting these evils on display. This is a true shame for me, due to Saudek’s talent and insight in his field.