Miroslav Tichý

1926 — 2011

The news magazine DER SPIEGEL called Miroslav Tichý a "discreet voyeur". Because he photographed women exclusively - unposed, without their consent. He photographed girls and women on the street and on the beach - mostly from behind - and is celebrated to this day for these imperfect shots. But photography was not his path to art. At a young age, Miroslav Tichý painted and drew, and even attended the Prague Academy of Art. But in the course of his life, the hopeful artist became an outsider in society. He was considered an oddball - not least because of his ungroomed appearance and his peculiar coat, which he spent years mending with needle, thread and wire. His cameras were a similar patchwork as his coat. He built them himself out of tin cans, toilet paper rolls, old spectacle lenses and cardboard. With these creative constructs, he then went in search of his models.

Miroslav Tichý had a precise daily workload: 100 times a day he pulled the trigger - an old rubber band. Then he considered his work done and went home. In Kyjov, he lived in seclusion in a house that was increasingly falling into disrepair - even when his photographs were already hanging in the world's most important museums and galleries. But Tichý was interested neither in fame nor money. Even when his photographs fetched five-figure prices on the art market, he threw them away or used them as fuel.