A COLLECTION OF 26 ORIGINAL PERIOD PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY THE AUTHOR. FIVE PERCENT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S LIFETIME OUTPUT.

24 different 6cm x 6cm b/w contact prints hand made by Karel Capek and his wife and 2 additional b/w photographs – one 11.5 x 8,5cm and the other 8.5 x 8.5cm. The two larger photographs are signed and dated on the back by Capek and dated 1928 and 1929 respectively. A clear reference to these photographs is made in the book “Capek Photographer” (2000) which explains that that Capek actively took photographs in the late twenties with a Rolleiflex that he owned and made contact prints himself (6 x 6cm as here) and usually placed them in small albums. Of Capek’s output only 200 photos survive in his estate and a further 275 may be found in the museum of literature in Prague – hence this group of material (which are similar in clothing and subject matter to those photographs that are reproduced in the above cited book) represent around a significant proportion of Capek’s known photographic output. The two larger photographs are signed and dated in the author’s hand and one is a self-portrait. The earlier shots may have been taken using Capek’s father’s camera and the above reference suggests Capek did not take up photography until 1928/29 – hence making these dated works some of the most early known. The topics covered are ordinary – snapshots of the family and trips and friends. Such “ordinariness” may seem dull however given Capek’s literature was instilled with such lack of the unusual then his interest in such imagery makes a great deal of sense and interestingly predates the later conceptual “bland” movement of the 60s and 70s. All fine estate. Probably unique and clearly quite rare examples of this important writer’s work in this medium. Capek was not only one of the most important of the Czech avant garde writers, a Nobel prize nominee but also the inventor of the term “robot” in his play “R.U.R.” (and was in fact the first ever televised science fiction programme – eat your heart out Captain Kirk) although later on he claimed that the word was actually invented by his bother Josef.