Theater photography

In this country, theatre photography has a long and robust tradition. In the second half of the 20th century, thanks to figures like Josef Koudelka, Jaroslav Krejčí and many others, artistic photography evolved as an independent and autonomous photographic genre. Thanks to the support of the EEA and Norway Grants, the Arts Institute – Theatre Institute (IDU) has had a unique opportunity to digitise, describe and facilitate access to more than 100 000 pictures mapping the past sixty years of life of the Czech theatres. Around one half of this number is already available as of today from the internet database at: www.divadelnifotografie.cz. Photos on individual productions are linked to the accessible on-line database of theatre production at: http://db.divadelni-ustav.cz/inscenace.aspx .

The documentation of the Czech theatre is a long-term project of the Art and Theatre Institute which contains one of the largest theatre libraries in Europe. The digital archive of theatre photography will include not only photographic material but also additional information about Czech theatre.