Toward an Emancipation of Photographic Vision: “Visualism” Under Czechoslovakian “Normalization” (1968–89)

Abstract

This article discusses photographic approaches that emerged in the Eastern Bloc and in Western Europe during the 1980s, with reference to the theories of Andreas Müller-Pohle from West Germany, Bořncireek Sousedík from Czechoslovakia, and Jerzy Olek from Poland. In their search for emancipation from externally imposed ideologies, these photographers articulated a series of similar ideas that called upon photographers to see their medium as a means to express their inner views rather than as a mere representational instrument of ‘the real’. The article demonstrates how they contributed to promoting social and political emancipation specifically in Czechoslovakia, at a time in which the communist regime strove to strengthen and normalize its rule. The article begins with a discussion of the period of ‘normalization’ (1968–89) and how it redefined the scene of art photography in Czechoslovakia. It then analyzes the theoretical and practical work of Müller-Pohle, Sousedík and Olek, arguing that it was mainly Olek’s pedagogical program and theory of ‘Elementary Photography’ that influenced Czechoslovakian practitioners. The article explains how their innovative photographs contributed to the development of a so-called visualist style in Czechoslovakian photography, which embraced subjectivity and signalled the decline of the communist power in Czechoslovakia during the 1980s.