My Father’s Son
I recently watched a video by photographer Nick Knight in which he delved into the story of another photographer, Richard Avedon and his father. The video made me reflect on my own father. The above photograph, my final one of my father was taken in the former Czechoslovakia just two weeks before he passed away.
This image was the beginning and the most significant part of my photographic career. Until then, I was engaged in quality commercial work, my nudes received some recognition among magazines and books on nudes, but only after I took those 2 photos of my father did my work feel more remarkable than any work I had done before. This work launched me into a major project named the Last Folio, which has been shown in many countries around the world, two books were published on it, and a full-length documentary was made about it.
After watching Nick Knight’s episode, I realized how my relationship with my father was different and how it changed my life.
My father, in a post-war socialist country, did his best to shield me from challenging situations at that time and in that historical context. My father came from a religious background, but after the horrors of WW2 and the rise of communism in Czechoslovakia, he decided to change his life and consequently mine. He left the past behind him and attempted to survive under new conditions. I didn't fully grasp what happened to his family or how he survived. Later, as a teenager, that wasn't the priority; the priorities were enjoying life and girls.
When Russian tanks entered Prague in 1968, I left, but my parents stayed behind. I began a new life, initially for a few years in England and then in Canada. In Canada, I completely changed my life's direction. I went back to school to study a subject I knew absolutely nothing about: Photography. I didn't even own a camera when I started school. My father managed to smuggle an East German camera, an Exakta, through an Austrian tourist to Vienna, and then the camera made its way to me in Toronto.
When I returned to Czechoslovakia after the collapse of Communism in 1989, I discovered a new country. By then, my father was retired and had picked up on his past from where he left off in 1939, before the war. He reconnected with his roots as much as he could. When I took those two photos, it was in 1996, two weeks before his passing. It was Christmas/Hanukkah time, and he placed a Menorah on the table the day I was leaving for home in Toronto. Without a word, he just lit the candles.
Two weeks later, I received a call from a friend telling me to come back for the funeral.
After the funeral, as I headed to my car, I met a lady in her 80s who was leaving my dad's funeral. I hadn't met her before but offered her a ride. Initially, she declined but eventually accepted. She mentioned she was quite occupied as she daily visits Holocaust survivors to offer them companionship. She then shared with me a profoundly moving story.
She recounted that during her time in Auschwitz, a transport arrived carrying Greek Jewish women. She noticed one woman, whom she described as exceptionally beautiful, looking at her. She inquired about the identity of the woman. She was informed that the woman was a King’s fortune teller.
The woman, named Ruzena, asked the fortune teller to predict her future. The seer told her that she would survive and that only one member of her extensive family would return, whom she would marry later in her life. She was also told she would not have children and that towards the end of her life, an angel would come to care for her. Then, she was told that she herself would soon perish, which happened the next day when Ruzena went looking for her.
I inquired about her past, and she revealed that only her brother came back, she wed at 40, and she remained childless. Eight years prior, when I visited her, a young woman resided with her, acting as the angel who cared for her until her demise. That initial visit after my father's funeral and on numerous subsequent visits, I went to see survivors and compiled an extensive collection of their portraits.
In 2001, the Slovak Ambassador to Washington invited me to exhibit these portraits. The exhibition date was September 11, 2001. Accompanied by my late wife, we flew to Washington on September 11, 2001, at 7 am. We arrived in Washington around 8:30 am and drove to the embassy, completely oblivious to the day's events At the embassy, we learned about the attacks on the twin towers in NY and the Pentagon. My first instinct was to head back home, but the Ambassador insisted the show must proceed. His precise words were: "We will not allow those bastards to change our way of life." The exhibition opened as planned and was a significant success
Four years later, in the by then new country of Slovakia, at a reunion of people who departed in 1968, I was showcasing my photographs when I was approached by former BBC producer Katya Krausova, who inquired if I would be interested in creating a film about my work. I consented, and that marked the inception of the project LAST FOLIO, which is well-documented online. The work encompasses not just portraits but also ancient religious texts, edifices, and graveyards we explored during the filming process. See more about the project here: https://www.yuridojc.com/last-folio