14. Josef Sudek at work circa 1923 For fifty years Sudek stalked the cobbled streets of Prague awaiting a small miracle, a certain quality of light or a coincidence of objects that would fracture the mirror of appearances to reveal the dark melancholic poetry of his soul. His wanderings had maybe begun the year after the Great War ended when he returned to the harshly lit terrain in which he had lost his right arm. Three months later he turned up in Prague never to speak of it or leave Czechoslovakia again. At the time of this photograph he still had close friends and collaborators, the young Jaromir Funke and Adolf Schneeberger in particular, one of whom quite possibly made this study. In later years he had no equal but when fame arrived it was too late and he scorned its showy pretence. He always made time, however, for those with sincerity, quietly encouraging amongst others the country boy Jan Svoboda.