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Libuše Jarcovjáková's documentary photographs depicting the life of the Prague and Berlin alternative scene in the 1970s and 1980s have received international acclaim. Her images have been shown in prestigious galleries and exhibitions around the world, including Les Rencontres d'Arles, where she won the New Discovery Award in 2019. The retrospective publication Evocative was awarded Photography Book of the Year and Klára Tasovská's documentary film I'm Not Everything I Want to Be about her life and work has attracted considerable interest at international festivals. We asked Libuše Jarcovjáková, who was inducted into the Czech Grand Design Hall of Fame in March and currently heads the Photography Studio at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, several questions.

Can we trust the photo?

We can't. We can't trust anything. No matter what I take, I always see half of things. Journalistic photography had the ambition to be objective, Life Magazine and the whole journalistic photography of the 20th and 21st century, all the projects of, for example, Jindřich Štreit are ostensibly objective, but they are not anyway, it's his choice. By entering somewhere, the situation develops in my image, which I then photograph. People react to you in a certain way, you don't want to penetrate somewhere you have no business going. I was telling a lot of myself, but I was telling it to myself. At the time the photos were taken, I had no idea that anyone would see the photos, that they would be published. And before that happened, I was going through an internal struggle because I was going out with my skin on the market. It's intimate, and there are situations that definitely don't embellish me, don't glorify me, but on the other hand, that's exactly what affects the audience because people are there. I tried to be as truthful as I could.

Are you interested in how the audience understands your photographs?

It wasn't a priority for me for a long time and I was quite sensitive to criticism, which was a consequence of my childhood. When the reactions to the film started, I was turned off by a remark from a lady who said: "The lady was just snapping." And then it suddenly dawned on me and I thought to myself - after all, the photograph is such a broad concept and there are so many ways, and it really doesn't have to be to everyone's liking. Either people will find something there or they won't, but I can't do anything about it. So the last year and a half of media attention has trained me quite a bit and I know that we are different, some like sci-fi and some love Tolkien. And no one is better.

Is taking portraits a confirmation of one's own existence?

Exactly. When I moved to Berlin, I was shocked by how I didn't belong there and how I couldn't find my way around. Those first few days I was constantly looking in the mirror, checking if I even existed, I was constantly taking self-portraits, taking pictures of my legs and arms, I needed proof that I even existed. Then it eased up, but the beginning was a confrontation with something completely foreign, something I was not prepared for at all, something I was not capable of doing at all. The contrast to the absolutely comfortable life under totalitarianism also played a role. Of course I'm idealizing it a bit, life under totalitarianism was associated with a lot of injustice, but in fact it was an undemanding life, except that you couldn't get toilet paper and there were long queues even for potatoes and cabbage, and everything fell on your head. But in terms of career, I didn't have to do anything. It was freedom in a way and also a comfort zone that I wanted to get out of.

Why did you choose Sutnarka?

I was first invited to the first Boundaries symposium in 2014. Then I became more interested in Pilsen when it was applying for the title of European Capital of Culture (2015) and then the Audiovisual Department approached me to see if I would be willing to lead a semester project. I had been teaching at Hellichovka (College of Graphics and Secondary Technical School of Graphics) for years, but this offer came at a time when I was de facto retired and had time to myself. I was very happy to be returning to teaching, to university, to Pilsen and to Sutnar Faculty. First, I was an assistant to Professor Grygar and after he left I was offered the position of managing the studio and I chose Bára Mrázková as my assistant. We have been working together here for the third semester now.

What is your relationship to academic education? From the film I'm Not Everything I Want to Be, the viewer might get the impression that you were happy to leave this environment.

That's true, but I would say that it has historical context. I studied at FAMU (Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) from 1977 to 1982, and even though it was a relatively tolerant environment and you could breathe relatively freely, it was still a totalitarian school. There were many personalities working there, but when I compare what was taught then with what students have to choose from today, it was insufficient in terms of theory.

So it wasn't a limitation towards the academic environment?

To be honest, I was forced to educate myself more or less on my own. For example, FAMU had a great library and Vladimír Birgus taught photography theory very well there, but when it came to philosophy and other areas, I always felt like I was missing out. I would say I'm a bit torn about it. I really like ordinary life, which can be characterized by the 4th price group, a pub and people who experience very strong stories, but the academic sphere is a challenge for me. I have to learn a lot and add to my knowledge, but I won't give it up.

What do you want to pass on to students? What do you consider the most important knowledge?

Passion is essential for me. This means evoking enthusiasm for the work itself. Above all, by example, motivation, inspiration. And if that is there, everything is solved much easier. Students are divided into two camps: some really do something, they are not satisfied with the first attempt and having a degree is not primary for them. And then there is the second camp. When you feel that a student only cares about the degree and only fulfills the necessary workload, it is difficult. Even that is problematic when they make a full living from photography and do commercial work. You cannot forbid anyone from doing that, but at the same time you can see that it changes them.

Studying at a university has two significant benefits: the first is the creation of collegial relationships and communication across all disciplines – photography students meet graphic designers, fashion designers, animators, etc. of the same age and can, for example, collaborate on a joint project and try out a job that they would never have chosen themselves.

How do you run the Photography studio in Sutnarka?

I don't want to make copies of us in any way. On the contrary, I am happy that Bára Mrázková and I represent different poles of photography and that we give students space to find a position that interests them. The more distant the topic is for me, the greater the challenge it is for me. The more I have to think about it and the more I have to try to understand what the student wants to show and say. Thanks to my life and my work, I place great emphasis on the fact that personal position is extremely important. Time forces us to constantly present ourselves somewhere, to look for attractive and strong topics and to come up with something completely new, but if you have nothing to say and if the work lacks a personal line, it may not work at all. It may have an apparent attractiveness, but the personal is very important these days. That is probably the main aspect that I bring to teaching. Bára, on the other hand, is more focused on research and the search for social, ecological and environmental phenomena, where one has to ask oneself questions and seek answers, for example through photography.

What role does a mistake play in learning?

A mistake is one of the best teachers. I must say that what I am very pleased about the current generation is that they are open to criticism. They tolerate it well and want qualified criticism. We have now invited theorist Jiří Ptáček to evaluate the exams, and he surprised us with how consistent he was in his evaluation and how thoroughly he prepared the analysis of the papers. The students welcomed it incredibly, and even though it was time-consuming, the feedback was very valuable to them. Combined with our observations, it was a very high-quality evaluation of the exams, and even after 14 days, the students came to ask for additions and clarifications.

What role does time play in photography?

Time is a historical factor. That's a concept from technology. When photographs were taken on gelatin and a drop of water fell on the gelatin layer, it stayed there forever. That was called a historical factor. And I say that a photograph has a historical factor because all you have to do is decide, for sentimental reasons, to look at the photos in your album and find that there are wonderful photos there that were taken by complete amateurs, but there is atmosphere, time, love, and that's what a photograph can do. And we don't pay attention to them and we don't notice how life passes us by so quickly because we are looking for higher, deeper themes and this escapes us. Time is a factor that a photograph is able to capture, to show, and that's what is very important.

Do the awards you have recently received for your work give you a certain freedom?

It gives me freedom, joy in life, energy. For me, two elements are essential: to continue creating, not just living off the archive, and to teach. Teaching gives me immense joy.

 

The screening of the documentary film  I'm Not Everything I Want to Be, which won the Czech Lion award for best documentary in March this year, will take place on Monday, April 22nd from 5:00 PM and 7:30 PM at the Pilsen Film Club (Měšťanská beseda). The first screening will be followed by a discussion with Libuše Jarcovjáková and director Klára Tasovská.

Libuše Jarcovjáková’s work can currently be seen at several international exhibitions, such as the Love, Maybe – Intimacy and Desire in Contemporary Art show at the BlackBox & BlackBox gallery in Munich (until July 17th), at the KVOST gallery in Berlin (until April 19th) or at the Centrum för fotografi in Stockholm (until April 12th).