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Antonin Novy | Czechoslovakian, 1944 -

Born in Prague in 1944, Antonin Novy began taking pictures when he was nineteen years old and working as a steelworker. He later worked as a picture editor for the Czechoslovakian news agency, Ceteka. Since then, he has made his living as a news photographer and documentary-film cameraman.

Antonin Novy's studies of girls were made in his leisure time. The photographs were inspired by, and photographed in the apartment of, turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau painter and poster designer, Alphonse Mucha. These photographs were taken in 1974, a time when Czechoslovakian artists were encouraged to depict the conflict and struggles of everyday life in a realistic style. Novy's dreamlike pictures speak out against the official sponsorship of Social Realism, and portray the lush atmosphere of bohemian Europe. These photographs were first published by Time Life Books in 1976.