František Dostál
Czech photographer (1938–2022)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
František Dostál (21 July 1938 – 5 December 2022) was a Czech photographer.
František Dostál | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 21 July 1938 |
| Died | 5 December 2022 (aged 84) Prague, Czech Republic |
Life and career
Born in Prague, the son of a maid and a tailor, during his youth Dostál was a junior national champion in high jump,[1] and a record holder in the sprint relay and high jump.[2] He studied at the Industrial School of Mechanical Engineering and got his first camera at 16 years old.[1] He got his first published photo in 1964, in the weekly magazine Květy.[2] His favorite subjects were ordinary people randomly picked on Prague's streets, and one of his favorite locations was the Sázava Swimming Pool.[1] His most famous work is Letní lidé ("Summer People"), a collection of photographs taken between 1968 and 1990 in the village of Zlenice, on the banks of the Sázava river.[1][3]
During his career Dostál held about 70 exhibitions, published 20 photo-books and collaborated with numerous magazines and newspapers;[3] his archives consist of several thousand photographs.[1] In spite of his success, he never abandoned his main profession as a machine tool designer.[2] He received over one hundred awards,[1][3] including in 2008 the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic’s Prize for his lifelong contribution to amateur photography.[3] He died on 5 December 2022, at the age of 84.[1][3]
