Josef Jindřich Šechtl
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[[Image:Josef Jindřich Šechtl and Anna Stocká 1911.jpg|alt Josef Jindřich Šechtl and wife Anna, 1911|right|201px|thumb|Josef Jindřich Šechtl and wife Anna, 1911]]
'''Josef Jindřich Šechtl''' ([[May 9]], [[1877]] [[Tábor]] – [[February 24]], [[1954]] [[Tábor]]) was a [[Czech Republic|Czech]] [[photographer]] who specialized in [[photojournalism]] and portrait photography. On the death of his father, photographer [[Ignác Šechtl]], Josef inherited the photographic studios of [[Šechtl and Voseček|Šechtl & Voseček]].
==Early years==
Josef Jindřich Šechtl was born in [[Tábor]], South Bohemia, on [[May 9]], [[1877]] as the second of three children. His father, [[Ignác Šechtl]], had opened his photographic studio in Tábor in [[1876]], and thus Josef Jindřich was influenced by photography from his childhood.
After finishing lower high school in Tábor, the boy was particularly interested in [[chemigraphy]] (a method of printing photographs). In [[1891]] (at the age of 14) he started to work as a trainee in the polygraphic factory of Jan Vilím in [[Prague]]. After two years, in [[1893]], he changed jobs to work as a photographer in the studio of [[František Krátký]] in [[Kolín]]. Krátký's studio specialized in [[stereoscopy]] and publishing photographs as educational tools,<ref name="Krátký">"[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/expozice8.html František Krátký: Pictures from Italy, 1897]", 8th Exhibition of Šechtl a Voseček Museum of Photography on-line (a biography of František Krátký). Accessed [[8 May]] [[2007]].</ref> allowing Josef Jindřich to further develop his interests in photographic printing.<ref name="3generations"/> His certificate of a completed apprenticeship, written in 1906 by his father Ignác Šechtl, also certifies his studies in the Šechtl & Voseček studios in the period [[1892]]-[[1895]], apparently in parallel with his jobs in Prague and Kolín. At 22, after serving in the army ([[1898]]-[[1899]]), he started work in the affiliated Šechtl & Voseček studio in [[Černovice u Tábora]], a town near Tábor. At this time his father Ignác was travelling with his cinematograph (motion pictures), and the Tábor studio was run by Ignác's partner [[Jan Voseček]].
==Photographic career==
Josef Jindřich Šechtl had a wide variety of interests in photography, including [[portrait photography]], [[photojournalism]], documenting changes in the town of [[Tábor]], photography of architecture, [[film]], color photography using the [[Autochrome Lumière|Autochrome]] process, [[street photography]] using an early [[Leica]] camera, and [[fine art photography]] influenced by photographic [[pictorialism]] (including use of the [[Bromoil Process|bromoil process]]).
[[Image:Šechtl and Voseček studio in Tábor.jpg|alt New studio of Šechtl and Voseček|300px|thumb|left|Contemporary advertisement picturing the new studio and reading "The largest art studio of photographers Šechtl and Voseček in Tábor". The studio was often described as the largest in South Bohemia or the Czech countryside.]]
Since the photographs from the Šechtl & Voseček studio are not usually signed by the particular photographer, it is not clear which photographs taken during [[1897]]-[[1911]] were taken by Josef Jindřich or Ignác Šechtl. Josef Jindřich's influence on the work of studio is however apparent. Soon after the start of his career, the studio started to publish large photo essays on important events, and produced postcards signed Šechtl & Voseček. The earliest of these larger photo essays — from an exhibition in [[Sedlčany]], the [[Sokol]] gymnastic festival (Slet), or the arrival of [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian]] Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]] — contained about twenty photographs each. The essays however quickly grew larger, and the Regional Exhibition in Tábor in 1902 was recorded in over 100 photographs.
The main source of income for the studio however remained its studio work, in which Josef Jindřich excelled: despite the provincial location of the studio, his works were comparable with those of the best Czech portrait studios.<ref name="portraits">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/galerie/portrety/index.html Portraits by Šechtl & Voseček studios], Šechtl and Voseček Museum of Photography. Accessed [[8 May]] [[2007]].</ref><ref name="3generations"/>. His work is influenced by photographic [[pictorialism]]. He used various visual aids and decorations to help express the personality of his subjects, often with a gentle sense of humor. His skilful use of light and contrast with shadows achieved stunning visual effects.
Josef Jindřich Šechtl became a partner in the Šechtl & Voseček studio in 1904 and took complete control in 1911 after the death of his father. Under his lead the studio prospered, and in 1906 he opened an affiliated studio in [[Pelhřimov]], while the studio also participated in the [[Austrian Exhibition (1906)|Austrian Exhibition]] in [[London]]. In 1907, a new and modern studio was built on the main street of Tábor.
[[Image:Poetry.jpg|alt New studio of Šechtl and Voseček|right|210px|thumb|right|Live statue of poetry, 1911, arranged for [[Sokol]] with sculptor Jan Vítězslav Dušek.]]
The photographic work of Josef Jindřich was very much influenced by Anna Stocká, whom he married in 1911. Anna loved art, and thanks to her charm the family befriended several artists living in Tábor, in particular the sculptor [[Jan Vítězslav Dušek]]. In 1912 Josef Jindřich and Anna's daughter Ludmila was born, and all seemed well. Josef Jindřich didn't serve in the army during World War I, and thus had a chance to record life in Tábor during this period, including the fire that significantly damaged the Tábor studio in 1917. He recorded the fire in a unique photo-essay<ref name="fire"/>, with several snapshots made on small-format sheet film, and for a record, a "reconstructed scene" made afterwards as an exact reconstruction of one of the snapshots, on a 13×18cm glass plate negative.
Much more disastrous for his life than the fire was the death of Anna from a kidney disorder in 1925 just six months after, and precipitated by, the birth of their son, Josef Ferdinand Ignác. His second marriage, to teacher Božena Bulínová, in 1926, wasn't as happy; and Josef Jindřich began to concentrate more on work in the studio and less on family life.
In 1928 Josef Jindřich bought a [[Leica]] camera and started recording life on [[135 film|35mm film]]. His collected work on 35mm gives an interesting insight into the daily life of the photographer, his vacations in [[Jáchymov]] and Yugoslavia, and his trip to the [[1936 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games in Berlin]] in 1936 with his friend the sculptor Jan Vítězslav Dušek, as well as events of the Second World War and the early years of communist [[Czechoslovakia]].
During the life of Josef Jindřich, photography changed from a job that could be taken up and practised fairly freely to a regulated craft: first for portrait photography in 1911, and later in 1926 (despite the protests of many amateur photographers) it was declared a full-scale craft, requiring apprenticeship and a permit to practice. In 1948, the new communist government socialised all services, including photographic studios. The Šechtl & Voseček studio was turned into a syndicate and nationalized in 1951 and, as a former tradesman, Josef Jindřich Šechtl was granted a small pension (200 [[Czechoslovak koruna|Kčs]] per month).
Josef Jindřich Šechtl died in Tábor on [[February 24]], [[1954]], aged 76.
===Fine art photography===
[[Image:Bromoil-Josef Jindřich Šechtl.jpg|thumb|100px|Bromoil, 1920s]]
The Šechtl & Voseček studios were advertised as artistic studios with a special focus on portraits of women and children. Josef Jindřich Šechtl did a number of works in fine art photography; however, most of these photographic prints either have been lost or are in private collections. Many of his architectural photographs have a great artistic quality, in particular those of the old town of Tábor, and his booklet ''Kutná Hora'' on [[Kutná Hora|that town]].
He was among the few professional photographers in the [[Bohemia]] experimenting successfully with the [[Bromoil Process|bromoil process]]<ref name="bromoleje">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/galerie/bromolej/index.html Bromoil prints] by Josef Jindřich Šechtl, Šechtl and Voseček Museum of Photography. Accessed [[8 May]] [[2007]].</ref> and [[Autochrome Lumière|Autochrome]] processes.<ref name="autochromy">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/cml/dir/autochromes.html Autochromes], Šechtl and Voseček Museum of Photography. Accessed [[8 May]] [[2007]].</ref>
===Photo essays===
Josef Jindřich Šechtl did most of his work in the limits of the Tábor
region of southern Bohemia. However, within these limits, he captured a number of important historical events, and portrayed in great detail life in the
Czech countryside. A number of his photo essays have been preserved, either
on [[Photographic plate|glass plate negatives]] or on nitrate films. Until 1911 the photo essays were done in collaboration with his father, Ignác Šechtl, and <!-- "after that time and"? The role of Jan Voseček is not really understood well. He was most probably photographing during Ignác Šechtl life too until his death, in 1880s as portrait photographer, in later years he is sometimes mentioned as author of photographs of Sokol gatherings, he was very active in that organization--> until the 1930s, with Jan Voseček.
Josef Jindřich Šechtl was, from 1927, among the first photographers in Czechoslovakia to use [[135 film|35mm film]] camera [[Leica]].
Selected photo essays preserved in the archive:
{| class="wikitable" width=90%
|- bgcolor="#efefef
! width="6%" | Year
! width="33%" |
|- valign=top
|'''1901'''
|[[Image:slet1901.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Vaulting over horse at [[Sokol]] gathering, Prague, 1901]][http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/franz_josef_1901.html Arrival in Tábor of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I],
[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/slet_1901.html Fourth Sokol Gathering in Prague].
|-
|'''1902'''
|[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/exposition1902.html Regional Exhibition in Tábor],
|-
|'''1902-1903'''
|[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/railway1902.html Construction of the first electric railway from Tábor to Bechyně] with inventor [[František Křižík]]. This photo essay led to later collaboration with Křižík's company.
|-
|'''1917'''
|[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/rytmics_1917.html Rhythmic - modern open air dancing of Sokol.] [[Sokol]] was banned during WWI.
|-
|'''1918'''
|[[Image:TGM Tabor 21.12.1918 3462a.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Tomáš Masaryk|TGM]] leaving train in Tábor.]][http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/masaryk1918.html Arrival of President of Czechoslovakia Tomáš G Masaryk after WWI], one of the very first photographs of the President of the country.
|-
|'''1919-1920'''
|[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/legions.html Return of legionnaires to Czechoslovakia].
|-
|'''1920'''
|[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/slet_1920.html Sokol Gathering in Prague 1920], [http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/Masaryk1920.html Visit of President Masaryk to the 500th anniversary celebration of the town of Tábor].
|-
|'''1921'''
|[[Image:Edvard Beneš with wife.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Edvard Beneš]] with wife Hana, [[Autochrome Lumière|Autochrome]]]][http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/benes_1921.html Visit of politician and future president of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Beneš], with several color photographs made using the [[Autochrome Lumière|Autochrome]] process.
|-
|'''1934'''
|[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/35mm_ferenc_rome.html Celebration of Czechoslovakia's success in soccer] at the [[1934 FIFA World Cup]].
|-
|'''1936'''
|[[Image:Olympics in Berlin 1936.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[1936 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games in Berlín, 1936]]]][http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/berlin_1936_35mm.html Olympic Games in Berlin, 1936].
|-
|'''1948'''
|[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/35mm_1st_may_48.html Communist May Day celebration].
|}
== Archive of the negatives ==
After the death of Josef Jindřich the glass plate negatives remained stored in the building of the former Šechtl and Voseček studio and were inherited by his son Josef Šechtl. Josef Šechtl worked as the head of the new syndicate into which the former Šechtl and Voseček studio was turned and his wife Marie Šechtlová as an employee. The communist regime was afraid of what might be seen in Josef Jindřich's photo essays made during the Nazi occupation, and particularly worried that its own members might be revealed as having collaborated. The family was asked to pass the negatives to the "cultural house" (Dům Osvěty) but decided to keep it in private ownership. As a result, Josef Šechtl was arrested in November 1957 and jailed for for one year (ostensibly for taking a photograph of a wedding without permission to practise as a photographer) and the majority of the archive was confiscated shortly afterwards.<ref name="TimelineJosef">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/expozice2.html#cas Chronology of Josef Šechtl's life], 2nd Exhibition of Šechtl a Voseček Museum of Photography. Accessed [[9 May]] [[2007]].</ref> Marie Šechtlová was tipped off about the impending confiscation and the night before it brought what she considered to be the most important negatives into their new house. A considerable amount of the confiscated material was destroyed but the rest stored in the Regional Archive in Tábor.<ref name="Marie Šechtlová">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cz/expozice2.html.en#vzpominka "Marie Šechtlová vzpomíná"] (Marie Šechtlová's memories), 2nd Exhibition of Šechtl a Voseček Museum of Photography. Accessed [[9 May]] [[2007]].</ref> In the 1970s the syndicate was relocated to the main Square and Tábor studio destroyed to allow the new Hotal Palcát to be built in its place. This led to the destruction of most of the cameras, photographic prints and other items still in the attic of the building. The studio in Pelhřimov (an important example of functionalist architecture by [[Karel Chochola]]) survived but was significantly damaged by being abandoned and allowed to decay for years.<ref name="3generations"/> A result of these events was that work of Josef Jindřich was rarely presented during the communist period.
After the [[Velvet Revolution]] in 1989 the Pelhřimov studio was returned to Marie Šechtlvá. A book that was already in preparation before 1989 presenting photographs of Ignác Šechtl, Josef Jindřich Šechtl, Josef Šechtl and Marie Šechtlová was published.<ref name="3generations"/> In 2004 a project to digitize and publish on the internet the surviving negatives by Šechtl and Voseček studios was started,<ref name="Digitization">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/archiv.html Archive Digitization Project]. Accessed [[9 May]] [[2007]].</ref> and the private Museum of Photography Šechtl and Voseček was opened in Tábor.<ref name="Museum">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/muzeum.html Šechtl and Voseček Museum of Photography]. Accessed [[9 May]] [[2007]].</ref>
==Chronology==
{| class="wikitable" width=90%
|- bgcolor="#efefef
! width="6%" | Year
! width="33%" |
|- valign=top
|'''1877, May 9th'''
| Josef Jindřich Šechtl born in [[Tábor]], at house #346, son of [[Ignác Šechtl|Ignác Schächtl]] (who later changed his name to Ignác Šechtl) and Kateřina Šechtlová nee Šťastná.<ref name="3generations">P. Scheufler, ''Jižní Čechy objektivem tří generací,'' České Budějovice 1989.</ref> On the same day, [Jan Voseček] started work in Ignác’s photographic studio.<ref name="vosecek_nekrolog">''Tábor'' (weekly newspaper), January 1936</ref>
|-
| '''1880'''
| Jan Voseček registered as a photographer's assistant<ref name="3generations"/> in the census.
|-
| '''1895'''
| Jan Voseček became a partner of Ignác Šechtl. The studio was named Schächtl & Voseček, later Šechtl & Voseček.<ref name="sechtlvosecek">''Tábor'' (weekly newspaper), November 6th, 1895.</ref><ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1895, November'''
| Šechtl & Voseček studio moved to the former studio of [[Alexander Seik]].<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1892-1895'''
| Josef Jindřich Šechtl studied in Šechtl & Voseček studios. Served out <!-- What does this mean? Getting the cerficate of apperticeship mentioned in the biography above too--> in 1895.<ref name="scheuflerweb">{{cs icon}} "[http://www.scheufler.cz/Fotografove/Sechtl-Josef-Jindrich/scheufler-fotograf.html?photographer_id=102 Josef Jindřich Šechtl]", biography on www.scheufler.cz</ref>
|-
| '''1897 and earlier'''
| Studied in studios of J. Vilím in Prague and František Krátký in Kolín.<ref name="scheuflerweb"/>
|-
| '''1898-1899'''
| Military service, originally part of Prague battalion #28, later moved to battalion 22 as "polní myslivec";<!-- What does this Czech term mean? I was looking for the translation, but I am not sure. Exactly it reads as "field hunter/chasseur". There is Czech wikipedia entry for this. In Austro-Hungarian army it was told to be position for people with smaller guns who was faster to operate than usual soldiers. Other web says that sons of real hunters, poachers, small boyes and sons of politically problematic persons was there. Why Josef Jindřich was there is unknown, the information is written on reverse side of photograh. I will add the photograph as source here too, it was digitized so will be on internet in a week or two--> in 1899 he left service, as the only son and thus required to support his family.
|-
| '''approx. 1900'''
| The Czech written form of “Šechtl” was starting to be used instead of the German form "Schächtl". Josef Jindřich Šechtl started work in Šechtl & Voseček studio.<ref name="3generations">
|-
| '''1902'''
| Šechtl & Voseček had a pavilion at the Regional Exhibition in Tábor. First large photo-reportage of Šechtl & Voseček studios. Both Ignác and Josef Šechtl cooperated in its preparation.<ref>[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/exposition1902.html One hundred and nine digitized negatives from the Regional Exhibition in Tábor including the Šechtl and Voseček pavilion].</ref> Also, first photographs from sport events ([[Sokol]] exercises).<ref>[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/cml/dir/exposition1902_sokol.html Sokol exercises at the Regional Exhibition in Tábor].</ref>
|-
| '''1904'''
| Josef Jindřich Šechtl became a partner of Šechtl & Voseček studio.<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1906'''
| The affiliated company ”Šechtl & Voseček” opened in [[Pelhřimov]].<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1906'''
| Šechtl & Voseček studio participated in the Austrian Exhibition in [[London]].<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1906, April 4th'''
| Josef Jindřich Šechtl awarded official vocational certificate for photography (for his studies in 1892-1895).<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1907, May 24th'''
| Blueprints accepted for new design of the Šechtl & Voseček studio at Nádražní street #316 (today 9 Května street) in Tábor.<ref name="3generations"/> The new studio was advertised as being the largest in Southern Bohemia.
|-
| '''1911, July 7th'''
| Ignác Šechtl, founder of the studio, died in Tábor.<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1911, August 21th'''
| Josef Jindřich Šechtl married Anna Stocká (born 21 May 1889) from [[Písek]].<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1912, September 12th'''
| Ludmila Šechtlová, daughter of Josef Jindřich and Anna, born.<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1917, May 9th'''
| Šechtl & Voseček studio in Tábor significantly damaged by fire from neighbouring farmyard. Photo-essay about the fire<ref name="fire">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/cml/dir/fire1917.html Photo essay from fire of farmyard adjoining Šechtl and Voseček studios], made on film, Digital archive of Šechtl & Voseček Studios. Accessed [[9 May]] [[2007]].</ref> and the following reconstruction<ref name="reconstruction">[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/cml/dir/stavba1917.html Photo essay from reconstruction of the Šechtl & Voseček studios, 1917], Digital archive of Šechtl & Voseček Studios. Accessed [[9 May]] [[2007]].</ref> were preserved.
|-
| '''1925, April 26'''
| Josef Ferdinand Ignác Šechtl, son of Josef Jindřich and Anna, born in [[Prague]]<ref name="3generations"/>.
|-
| '''1925, November 1st'''
| Anna Šechtlová, née Stocká, died in Tábor, aged 36.<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1926, May 12th'''
| Josef Jindřich Šechtl married Božena Bulínová (born 20 January 1890 in [[Jivno]]).<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1936, [[January 1]]'''
| Jan Voseček, regarded as a member of Šechtl family, died in Tábor.<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1948, May 15th'''
| Josef Ferdinand Ignác Šechtl married Marie Kokešová, future photographer and partner in Šechtl & Voseček studio.<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
| '''1951'''
| Nationalization of the Šechtl & Voseček studio by [[communist]] government.<ref name="scheuflerweb"/>
|-
| '''1954, March 17th'''
| Josef Jindrich Šechtl died in Tábor, aged 76.<ref name="3generations"/>
|-
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{Cs icon}} Albrecht, V. ''25 roků ve službách černého umění.'' Praha 1930. Pages 52-53. <!-- Publisher? -->
* {{Cs icon}} Augusta, P., H. Klínova, eds. ''Kniha o městě Tábor.'' Praha 2001. <!-- Publisher? ISBN? -->
* {{Cs icon}} ''Český svět,'' č. 1-18., 1918. (Published photographs of [[Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk]] with captions.) <!-- I assume that this is a periodical of some kind. What's "č."? -->
* {{Cs icon}} Krajíc, R., B. Smrčka. ''Tábor, jak jej fotografovali v letech 1876-1996 Šechtlovi.'' České Budějovice 1997. <!-- Publisher? ISBN? -->
* {{Cs icon}} Scheufler, P. ''Jižní Čechy objektivem tří generací.'' České Budějovice 1989. <!-- Publisher? ISBN? -->
* {{Cs icon}} Scheufler, P. ''Galerie c. k. fotografů.'' Praha 2001. <!-- Publisher? -->
* {{Cs icon}} ''Slovanský sokol, Cizinecký ruch.'' 1912. Pp. 258-260. <!-- Place? Publisher? --> (Published photographs of Serbian [[Sokol]].)
==External links==
*[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/ Digital archive project of Šechtl & Voseček studios]
*[http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz/en/expozice9.html Exhibition “Josef Jindřich Šechtl - Leica Photographer”]
*[http://www.scheufler.cz/Fotografove/Sechtl-Josef-Jindrich/scheufler-fotograf.html?photographer_id=102 Biography by historian of photography Pavel Scheufler]
{{commons|Josef Jindřich Šechtl}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sechtl, Josef Jindrich}}
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:Czech photographers]]
[[cs:Josef Jindřich Šechtl]]
[[eo:Josef Jindřich Šechtl]]