JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit (born 5 September 1946) is a Czech photographer and pedagogue. Known for his documentary photography, he concentrates on documenting the rural life and people of Czech villages. He is considered one of the most important exponents of Czech documentary photography.
Biography
Ã
 treit was born in VsetÃÂn on 5 September 1946. He began taking photographs in 1964, during his studies at the Pedagogical Faculty of Palacký University in Olomouc. Following his graduation he worked as a teacher in RýmaÃ
Âov; later he became director of the school in Sovinec and JiÃ
ÂÃÂkov. In addition to his profession, Ã
 treit actively participated in public life. As a local chronicler he documented the everyday events and life of Czech villages under the communist regime. The photography theorist AntonÃÂn Dufek identified him as "a continuer of the tradition of old village teachers, propagators of culture and progress".
In the late 1970s, Ã
 treit's approach to photography began to change. He studied at the Institut výtvarné fotografie (Institute of Art Photography) in Brno, led by K. O. Hrubý and AntonÃÂn HinÃ
¡t. He graduated from the Institute with a cycle of theatrical photography. At the same time, he continued expanding his cycle of everyday life of the villages in the foothills of the JesenÃÂky Mountains. Additionally, he helped organize cultural life in the region; he participated in organizing exhibitions and concerts.
In 1981, during the general elections in the former Czechoslovakia, Ã
 treit documented the official course of the elections. In some of his photographs made during the meetings of the local authorities, the portrait of the President of Czechoslovakia appeared on photographs in very "unlikely and absurd places". A year later, in June 1982, Ã
 treit agreed to display his works at the exhibition Setkánà(The Meeting) organized in Prague by the graphic artist Alena KuÃÂerová. After several hours, the exhibition was banned by the state police and Ã
 treit was arrested and accused of defamation of the President and the country. He was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment with a suspended sentence of two years. As a consequence, he lost his job and was forced to earn a living at a state farm in RýÃ
¾oviÃ
¡tÃÂ. He was banned from taking photographs, but he never respected the ban and returned to photography immediately after his release from the prison. The photography theorist Anna Fárová managed to include his works in the exhibition 9 + 9, visited by Henri Cartier-Bresson, who documented Ã
 treit's installation and published his photos in the French newspaper Le Monde.
In 1989, after the Velvet Revolution and subsequent democratization of Czech society, Ã
 treit was rehabilitated and allowed to take photographs without limitations. In 2009, he was named Professor of Applied Arts by the President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus. As of 2010, Ã
 treit works as a teacher at the Institut tvÃ
¯rÃÂàfotografie (Institute of Creative Photography of Silesian University in Opava).
Selected exhibitions
1990
2002
- Lidé z kraje pÃÂsku. City Gallery, Pécs; Muvészetek Háza, Eger (both Hungary)
- Katholische Akademie, Munich (together with Adriena Ã
 imotová)
- Vesnice je svÃÂt. Prospekto Fotografijos Galerija, Vilnius; Fujifilm Fotografijos Galerija, Kaunas (both Lithuania)
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit: Dans le cadre de Bohemia Magica, Le Château d'Eau, Toulouse
- Mezi námi. Cesty Ã
¾ivota. Brána nadÃÂje, Prague
- Fotografie. Gallery LangÃ
¯v dÃ
¯m, Frýdek-MÃÂstek (Czech Republic)
- Za oponou. National Museum, Prague
- Fotografie z kraje pÃÂsku. New Town Hall, Prague
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit-Tvorivé dielne na Slovensku. Czech Centre, Bratislava
2003
- Cesta ke svobodÃÂ. Theatre Ludus, Bratislava
- Cesta ke svobodÃÂ. Czabai IFIHAZ, Békéscsaba (Hungary)
- Cesta ke svobodÃÂ. Theatre Baj Pomorski, ToruÃ
 (Poland)
- Lidé olomouckého okresu. Kulturplatz, Münsingen (Switzerland)
- Daleko od domova. Czech Centre, Novorosijsk, Moscow
- Beziehungen. Fotogalerie Friedrichshain, Berlin
- Das Tschechische Dorf. Tschechisches Zentrum / Czechpoint, Berlin
- Interpretace. Gallery Caesar, Olomouc (Czech Republic)
- ÃÂcta k Ã
¾ivotu. Church of St. Cyril and Methodius, PÃ
Âerov (Czech Republic)
- SvÃÂt dÃÂtÃÂ. Gallery Auritius, Tábor (Czech Republic)
- Cesty Ã
¾ivota. Gallery Perseus, Olomouc
- VidÃÂno srdcem. Olomouc
- Lidé mého kraje. Museum in Bruntál, Bruntál
2004
- Lidé z kraje pÃÂsku. Hungarian Cultural Centre, Helsinki
- Vztahy. Czech Centre, Dresden; Palais für aktuelle Kunst, Glückstadt (Germany); Neumünster (Germany)
- Lidé ledkových dolÃ
¯. Maison de l'Alsace, Paris
- The Village is a Global World. Side Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Mezi námi. Gallery MÃÂsÃÂc ve dne, ÃÂeské BudÃÂjovice (Czech Republic)
- Ã
½ivot na zámku. Gallery Patro, Olomouc (Czech Republic)
- Tak blÃÂzko, tak daleko. M.E.C.C.A., TerezÃÂn (Czech Republic)
- Tak blÃÂzko, tak daleko. Theatre, Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic)
- TváÃ
Âe za zdÃÂ. Gallery of Critics, Prague
- Lidé mého kraje. Gallery Fiducia, Ostrava; Prague
2005
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. Blue Sky Gallery, Portland
- Ein tschechisches Universum, Gallery Fotoforum, Innsbruck
- ÃÂzech Universum. Photogallery, Bolzano (Italy)
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. Photo-Forum, Bozano
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. Gallery of the Parliament of Lithuania, Vilnius
- So near and yet so far: Photographs from Chechnya and Ingushia. Gallery Vapriikki, Tampere (Finland)
- Tak blÃÂzko, tak daleko. Museum Kampa, Prague
- Vztahy. Gallery 4, Cheb (Czech Republic)
- Cesta k ÃÂlovÃÂku. Minorites Monastery, Opava (Czech Republic)
- Fotografie J. Ã
 treita ze sbÃÂrky Moravské galerie. Moravian Gallery, Brno
2006
- Vztahy. Gallery ZPAP Pryzmat, Kraków
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. Galeria BWA, Bielsko-BiaÃ
Âa (Poland)
- Sovinec. Centrum Kultury Zamek, Galeria Fotografii PF, PoznaÃ
Â
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. European Parliament, Brussels
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. House of Arts, Ostrava (Czech Republic)
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit: Fotografie, které mám rád. Museum of Ostrava, Ostrava
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. Orlická galerie, Rychnov nad KnÃÂÃ
¾nou (Czech Republic)
- VzpomÃÂnky. Malá galerie, Kladno (Czech Republic)
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. Castle, Sovinec (Czech Republic)
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit. Gallery ZdenÃÂk SklenáÃ
Â, Prague
2008
- Das Dorf ist eine Welt. Fotografien. Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Wörlen, Passau (Germany)
Books and exhibition catalogues
- Birgus, VladimÃÂr. JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit: Fotografie. Bruntál, 1980.
- 14 regards sur le district de Saint-Quentin. 1992. .
- Vesnice Je Svet / The Village Is a Global World / Das Dorf Ist Eine Globale Welt / Un village, c'est tout en monde. Arcadia, 1993. .
- Der Hof: Vom Leben am Lande. . With Manfred Chobot.
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich. Japonsko: Lidé z Akagi / . Opava, Rychnov n.Kn., 1996. Photographs of Akagi in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. With a preface by Vlasta ÃÂiháková-Noshiro (in four languages but not German) and a biography and information about Ã
 treit (in four languages but not Japanese).
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich; Dufek AntonÃÂn. Zabavené fotografie / The Confiscated Photographs. Brno: Moravian Gallery, 1999.
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich; Cousin, Christophe; Wagner, Jean-Jacques. A coeur perdu / Touches of Heart / Doteky srdce. Belfort: Musée d'art et d'histoire de Belfort, 1999.
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich. Cesta ke svobodà/ The Road Towards Freedom / Weg zur Freiheit. Bruntál: OkresnàúÃ
Âad, 2000.
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich. Brána nadÃÂje / The Gate of Hope / La porte de l'espoir / Tor der Hoffnung. Olomouc: Arcibiskupstvàolomoucké, 2000.
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich; Wawrzacz, JiÃ
Âà(text): Lidé TÃ
Âineckých Ã
¾elezáren / People of TÃ
Âinec Steelworks / Die Menschen die TÃ
Âinecer Hütte / Les gens de l'usine métallurgique de TÃ
Âinec. TÃ
Âinec: TÃ
Âinecké Ã
¾elezárny; Moravia Steel, 2000.
- People of the Olomouc region / Lidé Olomouckého okresu. New York: Soho Photo; Czech Center New York, 2000. .
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich. Fotóhomok / Fotografie z kraje pÃÂsku / Photographs from the Flatlands. Budapest: Budapest Galéria, 2000. .
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit ze Sovince, aneb, Kam (ne)vstoupila noha fotografova. Moravský Beroun: Moravská expedice, 2001. .
- Mezi námi / Among Us. V Sovinci: SpoleÃÂnost pÃ
Âátel umÃÂnÃÂ, 2001. .
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich; SedláÃÂek, Martin (text). Daleko od domova. Brno: NakladatelstvàJaroslav SedláÃÂek, 2002.
- Cesty Ã
¾ivota / Ways of life. Olomouc: Krajský úÃ
Âad Olomouckého kraje, 2003. .
- Spolu / Together. Olomouc: ObÃÂanské sdruÃ
¾enàSPOLU, 2003. .
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit - TváÃ
Âe za zdÃÂ / JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit - Faces behind the wall / Yinderehe Shitecaide - Weicheng zhi nei. SedliÃ
¡tàve Slezsku: LaÃ
¡ské muzeum a galerie; Prague: ÃÂÃÂnský kulturnàinstitut, 2003. .
- Ã
 treit, JindÃ
Âich; KopÃ
Âiva, J.; Perunová, K. (text). Tak blÃÂzko, tak daleko. ÃÂeÃÂna a InguÃ
¡sko 2003 / So Close and Yet So Far. Chechnya and Ingushetia 2003 / So nah und doch so fern. Tschetschenien und Ingutschien 2003. Prague: SdruÃ
¾enàÃÂeská katolická charita, 2004.
- JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit: Fotografie 1965-2005 / JindÃ
Âich Ã
 treit: Photographs 1965-2005. Prague: Kant, 2006. .
- PamÃÂÃ
Â¥ ÃÂasu. RýmaÃ
Âov: MÃÂstské muzeum v RýmaÃ
ÂovÃÂ, 2006. .
- Identita reality. V Bruntále: Muzeum v Bruntále, 2007. .
- Ocelový svÃÂt / World of steel. Hranice: Dost, 2008. .
- VÃÂtkovice. Prague: Kant, 2008. .
- Japonsko 1995 - Návraty. Hranice: Dost, 2008. .
- VÃÂra a odpuÃ
¡tÃÂnà/ Faith and forgiveness. Ostrava: Petarda, 2008. .
- Europeans. Prague: Kant, 2009. . With VladimÃÂr Birgus and JindÃ
Âich Marco.
References
External links