"The flaws are part of it, that's the poetry."
From the 1950s to 1986, Miroslav Tichý took thousands of covert photographs in Kyjov, Czech Republic. With his wild appearance, locals saw him as eccentric, but his work can be seen as a subversive response to the Communist regime. A former student at Prague's Academy of Fine Arts, Tichý rejected Social Realism, leaving the academy and living under state surveillance. In the 1950s, he began focusing on photography, using crude homemade cameras made from scrap materials. His female subjects, often photographed in fleeting moments, formed the core of his work, which embraced imperfections as part of its "poetry."
Tichý had no interest in fame or preserving his work, often leaving his photos scattered around his home. This changed in 1981 when Roman Buxbaum, a former neighbor, began collecting his works. Tichý gained wider recognition after the 2004 documentary *Miroslav Tichý: Tarzan Retired*, followed by exhibitions at the Seville Biennial and the Pompidou Centre.
His style was compared to Gerhard Richter’s photorealism, and he won the New Discovery Award at Arles in 2005.
Tichý's influence extends to artists like Thomas Ruff and musician Michael Nyman. His first U.S. solo show was at New York’s International Center of Photography in 2009. Tichý passed away in 2011, leaving behind a legacy that challenges traditional concepts of form and content.