What is your profession?
I’m an IT guy. I’ve worked in software development since high school; back then, it was a post-revolutionary, chaotic period of time when new companies were being established and everybody needed to move from typewriters and paper to the new digital world. In the 90s, I had my own, short-lived advertising agency, but I went back to programming.
How did you become a tour guide?
It happened naturally. I like to talk, maybe because I don’t get to talk much by the computer. And tour guiding makes it even better, because it’s mostly me who talks, and no one interrupts me. I first started as a tour guide in Chernobyl; I went there on a trip, and the organizer was not physically ready for the local terrain conditions while the other visitors were not ready in terms of language, so I kind of took over by mistake and ended up going back there for some time as a tour guide. I also started tour guiding in other destinations, e.g. Oktoberfest in Munich. But I never aspired to become a tour guide for tourists. Instead, I was motivated by curiosity and the opportunity to get to interesting and photogenic places.
Which building/part of Prague or architectural style is your favorite?
I don’t have one favorite style; rather, I have specific favorite buildings. In Prague and its surrounding areas, I could list examples as old as the Romanesque period, and if archeological monuments counted as well, I could go from the Paleolithic Age all the way to recently finished buildings. I realize that I tend to develop a liking for buildings that are rather inconspicuous, and yet unique in some way. So even though I like Prague’s palaces designed by the Baroque masters or the notoriously famous architects from the early 1900s, I’m much more fascinated by the remnants of the Old Town, Břevnov, or Střešovice before they were redeveloped. Years ago, when I discovered the phenomenon of the so-called emergency colonies, I started photo documenting these relicts of the “Prague mud”, as David Platil has named them. From there I got to other places and communities that seem invisible at first sight, such as allotments, socially excluded localities, brownfields, and also the Prague docks. But to answer the question – my favorite recent construction is definitely the Dvorecký Bridge, and in terms of the historic ones, it’s e.g. the villa of Jan Náhlovský by Dušan Jurkovič. My favorite parts of Prague are Nusle and Libeň; out of the wider historic center of Prague, these are the last parts that haven’t been fully gentrified and uniformed by developers.
How long have you been working with OHP and what do you like about it?
I attended the festival as a volunteer in 2019, and I’ve been a regular tour guide since 2023. You get so much more from the festival as a volunteer than as a regular visitor, and that’s great. Every year, the festival leads me to a new place or a building that I’ve never heard of before.
What are your hobbies?
Mainly photography, also art in general, but in practice I focus solely on photography, mostly documentary. I also try “nude art” photography, but even that ends up being just a document of a naked girl’s presence, as Miloslav Stibor called this low genre in his photography textbook for elementary art schools. I’m also interested in architecture, history, archeology, and applied geography (traveling).