Michaela á la Egypt, 1990

Jan Saudek is considered a leading Czech photographer, best known for his depictions of nudes and youthful figures arranged in dreamlike spaces. His hand-colored, erotic photographs of young women amidst painted backdrops and plaster props lends his work the appearance of mid-19th century photography. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Saudek survived captivity in a Nazi concentration camp as a child, and artistic outlets became a means to cope with haunting childhood memories. He went on to pursue his interest in photography after seeing Edward Steichen’s book The Family of Man, and, despite the restrictions imposed by the Communist regime he lived under, he became an internationally renowned artist.