A River Trip Through the Lens of Vilem Hekel

We have written about the incredible photographic talents of Vilem Hekel before: Brno Built the Future in 1956, Skoda Glamour in the 50s by Vilem Heckel and Bohemian Fashion at Karlovy Vary Circa 1950s. Today we just had to share these beautiful images we happened upon from his family’s estate. To us, most of the images could represent young Pražáci leaving the...

CULTURE, Photography

September 22, 2016

Prague – City of 100 Spires

Prague is known as “The city of a hundred spires” or “The city of one hundred spires” (Stovezata Praha in Czech language). and lately, we seem to be coming across 100 older books which highlight the architecture of what we believe to be the most beautiful city in the world. The Prague – City of 100...

Architecture, CULTURE

August 28, 2016

The Photographs of Karel Plicka

Karel Plicka (1894 – 1987) was a Czechoslovak photographer, film director, cinematographer, folklorist, and pedagogue. He is considered a founder of Slovak film education and filmmaking. He helped establish the genre of ethnographic film in Czechoslovakia. In 1938 Karel founded photography and cinematography courses at the Škola umeleckých remesiel (School of Applied Arts) in Bratislava....

CULTURE, Photography

July 14, 2016

Stará Aerovka – Czech Aviation Museum Complete with Hangars

Stará Aerovka is a Czech Aviation Museum complete with hangars, a unique complex representing not only the architecture showing the beginning of Czechoslovak aviation, but also the development of aircraft technology during WWII. At this single location it’s possible to see uniquely preserved buildings, typical for Central European airport structural engineering of the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, and...

LIFESTYLE

March 10, 2016

Tarzan Retired – The Work of Miroslav Tichy

Maybe you have heard of Miroslav Tichý (1926 – 2011), the eccentric and unsuspecting man with the homemade cardboard, plywood and tin cameras. Call him a Czech version of a Vivian Maier if you will – only his photo taking was never really a secret other than the odd looking cameras he used really worked. He...

LIFESTYLE

March 4, 2016

Photo Lens: Jiří Macht Poetic Prague

All of the images are from the book entitled Praha Poeticka or Poetic Prague. The photographer of these lovely images is Jiří Macht (born 1949). The scenes, a lonely looking Prague in black and white. Enjoy… Which image is your favorite? If you have not already subscribed to get TresBohemes.com delivered to your inbox, please use the...

CULTURE, Photography

March 2, 2016

The Ghosts of Czech Border Fortifications

In the interwar period, Czechoslovakia expanded its powerful network of fortifications along the border with Germany. Today we look at the ghosts of Czech border fortifications captured by Czech photographer Roman Kubeček. Work on the fortifications began in 1935 because of fears of a German invasion at the border (number 1545 kilometers). The huge project aimed to...

LIFESTYLE

February 29, 2016

Alexander Hammid and the Avant Garde

Alexandr Hackenschmied (December 17, 1907 – 26 July 26, 2004). He was one of the most significant personalities of Czech film and photograph avant-garde. In the beginning of the 1930’s, he was a distinct promoter of world avant-garde movements and he organized one of the first avant-garde film projections in Prague, showing various films including those...

CULTURE, Movies

February 10, 2016

Marilyn Monroe in Black

Milton Greene pulled out his camera in 1956 and photographed what came to be known as the Black Sitting. Photographed in his studio in New York, this has to be my personal favorite of Marilyn photographs. Marilyn Monroe in black has to be the special photographic series people recognize as the ULTIMATE Monroe-Greene achievement. What I love...

LIFESTYLE

Plant-Cleaner-Vanessa-McKeown-Tres-Bohemes

November 11, 2015

Everyday Objects Cleverly Reimagined by Vanessa Mckeown

Vanessa Mckeown is an art director and photographer who has reimagined everyday objects into colorful and clever works of art. Her photographs combine mundane objects such as spray bottles and toothpaste tubes with colorful fruits, candies, and cakes to create amusing images and charming scenes. She uses everyday objects in unusual ways, substituting common objects...

LIFESTYLE

France-Exiles-Josef-Koudelka-Tres-Bohemes

November 7, 2015

Photographs of Exile by Josef Koudelka

In the May of 1970 Josef Koudelka left his country, intending to avoid retribution for his 1968 photo series Invasion. Despite the fact that the photographs had been published anonymously, Koudelka feared reprisal for the 1968 photographs, which recorded the Soviet invasion of Prague. “From that moment, I was afraid to go back to Czechoslovakia...

CULTURE, Photography

Josef-Koudelka-Prague-Invasion-Tres-Bohemes

November 5, 2015

The Prague Invasion of 1968

Josef Koudelka returned home from Romania in the August of 1968, a mere two days before the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. As the military forces of the Warsaw Pact invaded the city of Prague and the tanks rolled in, Koudelka took to the streets, where he recorded the historical event with his camera. His photographs...

History, NOSTALGIA

Exhibition-of-Czechoslovak-Engineering-1956-54

November 4, 2015

Brno City of the Future 1956

I bet you had no idea that Brno Built the Future in 1956… “In the city of Brno, modernism lives on. Brno, the capital of Moravia and the Czech Republic’s second-largest city, is a long way from Chicago. But in the 1920s and 1930s, it was one of the hotbeds of Modernism in Central Europe.” –International...

Architecture, CULTURE, History

November 3, 2015

Gypsies or Cikáni by Josef Koudelka

Gypsies or Cikáni (Czech for “gypsies”) is a collection of photographs taken by Josef Koudelka between 1962 and 1971. The photographs offer a look at Roma Society and the Gypsie’s way of life in various European countries. Koudelka originally planned to publish the photographs in Prague, but due to the Soviet invasion in 1968, he...

CULTURE, Photography

October 29, 2015

Skoda Glamour in the 50s by Vilem Heckel

Škoda Auto, more commonly known as Škoda, is a Czech automobile manufacturer founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement. Not too glamorous of a car, there was one photographer who bought a certain level of style to it. Today we’re looking at Skoda Glamour in the 50s by Vilem Heckel. It is headquartered in Mladá Boleslav,...

CULTURE, Photography

October 24, 2015

Bohemian Fashion at Karlovy Vary Circa 1950s

These are rare photographs from the estate and family of Vilem Heckel. The images are from a fashion show at Karlovy Vary in Bohemia sometime during the early to mid-1950s. Please make sure to read this wonderful photographer’s bio at the end of this post. Now… on to the gorgeous fashions! Note: We claim absolutely...

Fashion, NOSTALGIA, Photography, Retro Chic