With the benefit of hindsight we know that photography found itself in a special situation in the 1980s. On the one hand it was wrestling with the problem of how to define itself (there is nothing surprising in this - indeed, we may understand this as an operational strategy common in modern times for every artistic medium), on the other how to operate in the public domain.
From the perspective of today - that of a time when there is overproduction in every type of exhibition and publication activity - this may be difficult to credit. Both levels of existence forged connections and caused divisions within the conception of what art is. The photography of Jiří Foltýn bears witness to the situation of that time, although this is not the reason why Foltýn's work finds itself in Camera's exhibition plan; forms of discourse current in photography today find frequent occasion to turn to the past, encouraging us to see more in the work. This is an interesting moment: the era of classical photography has ended and it may now become an object of reevaluation. We are shown how shifts in context create new meanings, producing in particular a psychological dimension which makes manifest a disparity in the flexible thinking of today: it combines the myth of the uniqueness of a moment with a magical experiencing of the past. How exciting it is to look at a photograph which is twenty years old! It is like drinking a cocktail of narcissism and sentiment while remaining a pragmatist.
