2024-09-27 20:08:01
When Bruce Weber, one of the last famous Mohicans of classic analog photography, was preparing an exhibition in Prague, he prepared a large handwritten sign: “When a boy from a farming town in Pennsylvania one day manages to exhibit his photographs in the premises of the Prague Capital Gallery, it is clear that he has what to say.” His pictures depict famous faces, nudes, but also dogs, which Weber loves.
The retrospective exhibition, which will last until January 19 next year at the House U Kamenné zvonu, reflects fifty years of Bruce Weber’s work. There are over 250 photos, video clips and short films on display. His pictures often depict young women and men in sporty, daring and intimate moments. The exhibition also shows the author’s portrait and reportage work, music and fashion video clips as well as feature films.
Weber’s famous portraits depict, for example, Eva Herzigová, Martina Navratilová, Kate Moss, Amy Winehouse, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Penélope Cruz, but also Nelson Mandela.
Singer Amy Winehouse in a photo by Bruce Weber. | Photo: Bruce Weber/GHMP
Weber also focuses on nature and animals, for example photos of golden retrievers can be seen at the exhibition. The photographer is the owner of several dogs of this breed.
He was already in Prague in 2000, photographing Heath Ledger
Weber has also come to Prague in the past during orders for the most famous magazines and fashion brands. In 2000, actor Heath Ledger was photographed here for Vanity Fair magazine. “Back then, the restaurants were empty, the streets unwelcoming and deserted. I have to say that when I visit now, I perceive a huge contrast. People are smiling, they are pleasant. I feel warmth, hope and a great atmosphere,” says Weber, who personally attended the opening of the exhibition this week .
How to become a photographer? Read a lot
“People often ask me how to become a photographer. I don’t know the answer to that,” he said before the show opened. “But I think that if you want to make art, you have to read a lot. Draw from books, read poems, perceive and absorb everything possible, even what is not beautiful,” he added. “For me, photography means to stop being afraid and see something beautiful in all people,” he stated.
Bruce Weber presents his retrospective exhibition in Prague. | Photo: Tomáš Vocelka
In addition to photos, he also shoots films, he was nominated for an Oscar
Bruce Weber has also shot many music videos and several documentaries. His 1987 film Broken Noses received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the US Sundance Film Festival. The 1988 film Let’s Get Lost, about jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, was even nominated for an Oscar.
The Prague exhibition entitled Bruce Weber: My Education was five years in the making and was specially prepared for the House U Kamenné zvonu. The concept was prepared by Helena Musilová, chief curator of the Prague Capital Gallery. “In Bruce Weber’s work, even in the postmodern era, various approaches are wildly intertwined, in photography there is no denying the multi-layered ‘filmic’ vision, and in films and clips, the photographic emphasis on detail and unique light,” he notes.
According to Musilová, it is not important whether this or that image was created as part of a fashion campaign, as a random photograph on the street or a portrait series for a magazine. “Everything is connected by Weber’s ability to capture a deep emotional charge, moments of vulnerability, intimacy, intense experiences, joy, pain, fatigue, love, triumph. It is a depiction of the relationship between soul and body,” she said.