Magdalena Turner

Fasada

The year 2009 is the 20th year since the Czech Republic became free from the Communist regime in the Velvet Revolution on 17. November 1989. Since the republic was founded in 1918 it was occupied by the Germans from 1938 to 1945 and then ruled by the Communists and under strong hold of USSR from 1947 to 1989.

The Czech people have been enjoying the freedom of speech, expression, freedom to travel, own property or a business and also responsibility for their lives, futures and prosperity.

There is whole generation of people who lived most of their lives in Communism and may be finding it hard to adapt to the new democratic and capitalist Czech Republic. Some people still live in the past and the past lives in their mentality. The Communism is also very prominent in the architecture of many Czech cities. As people were rarely allowed to own a house and everyone was supposed to be equal, countless high rise buildings were imposed on the Czech landscapes.

Most of these buildings are now in joined ownership of the individual flat owners and as there is nothing that can be done to improve this architecture, people have decided to paint these gray, concrete buildings with bright colours in effort to stand out and deal with the and depressive feel of the past.

As all forms of expression, photography too was extremely restricted in Communism. Images were censored, manipulated and their use was very closely monitored. Photography was used to give people false sense of security – propaganda, and also was used to spy on people by the STB (Secret State Police).

The photographer was aiming to reflect the effects of the past on the present, using the techniques which were allowed and forbidden, using different strategies to best express her feelings about her native country.