for years i’ve loved the work of the joyous (almost adolescent) czech photographer jan saudek. i first saw a photo of his walking down a gallery lined street in new orleans, and the photo stared back at me, demanding to be reckoned with. his work is unrepentantly male in nature, he chooses models with presence and raw beauty, and he has the ability to do something i value very much in image making, something few people can do well or at all: he makes me laugh. but aside from that his photographs are lessons in careful craft, looking into yourself to look better at the people in front of your lens, and above all, doing what you love and letting it keep you young.

anyway, this love-rant is all an excuse to share some photos that photographer nina sederholm has made of saudek, in his own studio, in the same spirit. she turns his tack of autobiographical-magic realism-portraitry back on him and his own life, using the same beautiful falling-down walls that saudek uses in his own work. it’s a pity there are only a few, but they’re still wonderful, and i love the one of saudek and his partner-in-life, sara. i’ve been trying to buy the same photo i first saw in new orleans from them for the past few years, and sara has been gracious enough to write me back beautiful, thoughtful letters. both of them have amazing handwriting, bringing the form of letter writing back to what, at its best, it was always meant to be: highly personalized, intimate contact; the act of putting deliberate and carefully chosen thoughts from your hand to the page to someone’s waiting hand, reading it.