Pavel Šmíd

At the literary collection 7edm (7even, Theo Publishing 2005), one of the authors is Pavel Šmíd. His short biography published there clearly points out his underground beginnings at the totalitarian, communist Czechoslovakia. In 1976, Pavel was relegated from the University of Hradec Králové and was able to finish his studies only after regime’s collapse, in 1990. Meantime, he started to publish, of course illegally, a natural, so to speak way for the banned writer to be heard and read.
Now, Pavel runs the publicity magazine “Welcome to the Heart of Europe” on behalf of the democratic government of Czech Republic. The best man for his job, with such credentials under the old regime. But, if it is not enough for one individual, another Pavel Šmíd exists and flourishes. It is Pavel the photographer.
His art of photography shows two strong currents semalessly mixing in his mind and at the outcome of his work. The first current in his black and white photography shows the strong composition in the best way of Magnum masters like Henri Cartier Bresson and Dennis Stock whose steps Pavel follows. The second current shows Pavel as the writer, sensitive observer of the human conditions. It adds another dimension to his works, the delicate sense of humour, surrealism and a bit of ridicule. Such combination works wonderfully and invites us to Pavel’s inner world of a man who deeply cares about human condition. Every true artist must posses such a trait - the art for art’s sake makes a little sense to me.
When I saw, for the first time, Pavel Šmíd’s show at the Upstate New York gallery in the summer of 2005 I was mightly impressed. Some of his prints were very dramatic, combining human beings against the backdrop of cold man-made landscape, their interaction between themselves, the other were plainly beautiful, almost abstract, carefully designed and composed.
My very favourite was the photograph containing both Pavel’s currents perfectly. It was taken somewhere in South America, at Bolivia or Chile. An old, small village hanging to a steep hill, the main street winding down, the panormama of houses, roofs, walls... on the very middle of the main street a small dog sits surveying his domain, the whole village. This photograph, without the dog, would be a perfect panorama of the mountanious city-scape, almost abstract image of contrasting surfaces and compressed perspective. But Pavel, passing through, saw the dog - a true king of his place sitting on his observation point, and in a split of a second he registered this wonderful moment - a whole novella about the life. The allegory of similar behaviour... the pure poetry in the lenses of camera...
Jan Sawka, 10. 10. 2006. High Falls, Upstate New York

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