Ondřej Szollos is a Czech artist and photographer who has been taking pictures around the world for 17 years, focusing on documenting the lives of marginalized people and seeking to capture stories, oddities, and the daily realities of their lives. He is interested in exploring faces, poses, and gestures of unique characters to reveal their life experiences and personalities. Szollos draws influence from other artists and experiments with different photographic techniques to capture dream-like moments and everyday peculiarities.

1. Ondřej Szollos
point of view

2. My name is Ondrej Szollos, I am an artist and a photographer living in Prague.
For the past 17 years I have been taking pictures all over the world, in Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Thailand, France, USA, Poland, and other places in Europe.
In my pictures I try to reproduce the stories behind the images, as well to exhibit the
oddities, and strangeness of the lives of people from diverse, marginalized parts of
society. My photographs aim at preserving and recreating the events, happenings, and
stories that lead to the one specific image that is captured. I am interested in the lives
and stories of people from different backgrounds, countries, and cultures, and my
pictures try to catch the differences and similarities of people from all over the world.
I am interested in the world of those marginalized and excluded, in their daily routine,
their free time activities, their customs, and quotidian life style.
For many years I have documented the life of so called “working class heroes” in
impoverished places in small towns and villages in Czech Republic and Slovakia. Knowing
these people personally I take pictures of their daily life. While these people suffer from
poverty, unemployment, and lack of opportunity, they nevertheless lead rich, interesting
lives. Influenced by the stories of Bohumil Hrabal, I search the pearls in the lives of these
seemingly hopeless people, contrasting their rugged everydayness with their fantastic
lives and stories. I seek these people in peripheral, sometimes seedy, neighborhoods
(i.e. Prague’s Zizkov, Vrsovice, etc.), villages, (Maslovice in Czech), and towns (Roznava,
Dobsina, Revuca, in Slovakia on the Hungarian border). I wish to discover forgotten
places, where people lead their anonymous lives, abandoned by time and actual events.
In a recent stay in New York City, I explored the creation of a fictional story in images
with the leading multidisciplinary artist Petr Nikl. We are currently collaborating on an
exhibition and a book based on our work in New York City, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and
Prague.
In my studio work I explore the lives and personalities of unique characters through
their faces, poses, and gestures. Before and during the shooting session I befriend these
people, making sure they feel comfortable in my presence, and are able to exhibit their
bare inner selves and free themselves from inhibitions they might have with strangers. I
choose people whose expressive faces demonstrate their unique life history, individual
experiences, and desires.
Many times I also use snap shots in order to capture unusual moments in everyday life,
and extraordinary events in mundane places. Capturing these exceptional images in
unexpected places demonstrates how mysterious and uncanny ordinary life can be. It
is important for me to be in direct contact with those I photograph, enabling them to
prepare themselves, and choose the way in which they want to be captured. I believe that
all poses and facades also reveal something about the way people perceive themselves
and who they want to be.
Though I usually use analogue equipment, I find it also interesting to experiment
with digital photography from time to time. I am interested in the different colors and
textures each technique produces, as well as chemical and digital manipulation of
pictures.
In my pictures I try to capture not only the stories, but also the contrast between gentle
and harsh personalities, situations, patterns, and moments. These differences represent
what I see as the life and reality of people from all parts of society.
I am influenced by such artists as Peter Peter, Bruce Davidson, and Gregory Crewdson.
In my pictures I try to document dream-like moments, daily adventures, and day-to-day
peculiarities.

3. Personal work/Dwarf

7. Portraits

11. Snapshots

13. Landscape

18. Story
Dragoon ride
On March 30th the Dragoon Ride entered the Prague...
We decided to document this event. There were 3 different kinds of ex-
pired 35mm film material in our fridge (Kodak ektachrome, Fuji Reala and
Konica). We used 3 different kinds of cameras: Ricoh GR1S, Lc-a and Voi-
gtlander Bessa R.
The event took place at Ruzyně barracks, it lasted for one day and at-
tracted all sorts of interesting people, politicians, activists, army enthusi-
asts and freaks.
I also took the first picture as a tribute to Mr. Koudelka, who photo-
graphed the Russian army forces entering Prague in 1968.

23. Ondrej Szollos
Dykova 1068/9, 101 00 Prague
00420733189653
szollos@email.cz
Personal details:
Date of birth: 28. April 1983
Nationality: Czech
Marital status: single
Driving licence: B
Website: https://www.behance.net/ondrejszollos
Work history:
2010 – present Freelance photographer
2010 – 2015 Director of photography and camera operator for Czech TV
2014 – 2015 Home photographer for Dancing House
November 2014 Editorial campaigner for Lui Magazine
http://www.lui-magazine.cz/iamhuman/
September 2014 Making of and film session photography for Smrtislav
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l23lZ2m2IA
August 2014 Making of director of photography Die Himmelsleiter (Ladder to
Heaven) for Bavaria film (http://www.bavaria- film.de)
June 2014 Official photography for Coffee Room Prague
http://coffeeroom.cz
May 2014 Commercial photographer for Radox
2014 Album photography and design for Julie Sabol
2011 Second camera for FEBIO production company for O Ceske
milovani (Czech Love)
http://www.csfd.cz/film/252676-ceske-milovani/
2010 Location manager for Unit Sofa Productions
2008 Director of photography for Na ceste (On the Road) for Czech TV
http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/1185966822-na-
ceste/208562260130006-na-ceste-po-ceskem-stredohori
Education:
2006 -- 2011 Academy of Art Slovakia, Banska Bystrica
Final project under the supervision of Prof. Olga Sommerova
2003 – 2005 Film school of Miroslav Ondricek
1999 – 2003 Graduation, COPTH Prague, subject to the final exams :
English language, Economics, Management, Math
Interests / hobbies:
Photography, delveloping film, video photography, documantaries
Languages:
Czech (native speaker)
English (fluent)
Slovak (native speaker)
Hungarian (native speaker)
German (beginner)
Technical and computer skills:
Photoshop CC
Lightroom CC
Final Cut
Adobe Premier