Antonín Kratochvíl

Antonín Kratochvíl (1947) is one of the most important personalities of Czech and world photography, he is one of the founding members of the prestigious VII Photo Agency and is the holder of four World Press Photo awards. In his work, he focuses mainly on humanistically oriented documentary and portrait photography, for which he has received several international awards. Through black-and-white photography, he appeals to emotions, disturbs and speaks evocatively about humanity and its flip side. From 1972 he worked in the USA, where he collaborated with prestigious American newspapers and magazines – Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Vogue and Playboy. However, he kept returning to Europe to capture life behind the Iron Curtain and later the changes after its fall. With his camera, he went through almost all the world conflicts of recent decades. He covered the genocide in Rwanda, refugees in Zaire, Bosnian and Afghan refugees, victims of the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe and drug traffickers in Burma and Guatemala. He also portrayed a number of important artistic personalities. In recent years, he has devoted himself to capturing vanishing cultures and the devastation of nature. In 2018, he co-founded the 400 ASA agency, which brings together important personalities of Czech photography. For his work he has received, among others, the Journalist of the Year Award from the International Center of Photography in New York and the Leica Medal of Excellence Award for outstanding achievement in reportage photography. American Photo magazine ranked Kratochvíl among the 100 most important personalities in the field.