Jaro Sykora
Biograpghy:
I was born on the 6th September 1953 in the north part of Slovakia in region Orava. More than 20 years I dedicate to the artistic photograph. Since then I have been gradually building up my unfinished series of photos of people from the hillsides of Orava, a series entitled
“A people’s tale”. I have made the documentary photos to the old people on a treshold of their life and death. I was documenting a hard life of the people, which don’t exist today yet. All this document has title “ A portrait of the old Orava”. I am interested in a problem how a man is even with his death, therefore I was documenting to a life in the old people’s home, where the old people was getting, where I photographed in their surroudings and their lives became waiting for their death. This life-cycle has title “A day longer than timelessness”. When I explored the region Orava I met with a special woman, despite her high age /more then 90 years/ radiated from her anenourmous life-power. Long time she lived in an abroad, whose her life different from the others people. I photographed her as a nude and I wanted to express a symbol of the life, of the death, of the youth, of the old age. This photographic cycle has title “A top model”. At present time I dedicate to a problem of alcoholism. I intercept of alcoholics in their surrounding where they live. I want to emphasize destruction person by alcohol. This photographic-cycle has title “Ways of alcohol”. I also photograph these people in the produced form. I don’t want to show a human nudity as a sexuality, but men who are psychicaly and physicaly naked. They are on a total ground their life, although they are deeply belivers. This photographic cycle has title “A Christian’s love”. I’m persecused for my creation in my country in Slovakia. About this problem you can be viewed at http://www.presscard.com/jaro.htmAwards and individual exhibitions
May work has won many awards and commendations in competitions at home and abroad: 1992 -1st prize in Slovak Foto ’92, “story” category, 1st prize in Pravda newspaper’s competition Life around us, the Award of the Slovak Union of Photographers, 1993 - the honest acknowledgement from “Salon internacional de arte fotografico” in Buenos Aires, 1995 -1st prize in the international AMFO competition, Every year I have been in average 5 individual exhibitions in Slovakia and in an abroad. About my phtographic creation was filmed 3 documentary films by private television. The documentary film about myself was rated as the best documentary film on The international review of the documentary film - Art film Trencianske Teplice in Slovakia in the 1997.
Sykora‘s work is a landmark in Slovak photography, unparalleled since the 1960‘s.
Lucia Benicka -curator of photography from House of photography in Poprad-Slovakia
contact:
photographer Jaro Sykora, ul. CK 79/13, 029 01, Namestovo, Slovakia
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