#35 (Life)

In this photograph, a father gently cradles his child, keeping him close to his chest. The two bodies occupy the majority of the photo—very little background is shown. Here, Saudek uses perspective to heighten the closeness between the father and child. Returning to themes of family and intense intimacy, Saudek further highlights Czechoslovakian societal values during the late 1900s in this image. The work’s title, #35 (Life), encourages the audience to consider both the lives of the baby and the man, as well as how we, the audience, resonate with each of them individually—from where we began to where we will inevitably end.

[Corey Gordon, '#35 (Life)' in "Suppression, Subversion, and the Surreal: The Art of Czechoslovakian Resistance," (Los Angeles: USC Fisher Museum of Art, 2019) 44.]