Andrej Pešta – Baro frajeris

Andrej Pešta – more than just a photographer

During his life, Pešta engaged in many forms of creative work, including writing, painting, forging, and documentary photography. However, for many years, his photographic work remained overshadowed by his other activities. Although he was a member of the cultural and social organization Union of Gypsies–Roma, where he worked as editor of the periodical Románo ľil, led the folklore group Jagóri, and actively took part in discussions about standardizing the Romani language, his photographic archive only came to light in the 21st century, and it did so through his own initiative.

The museum staff first learned of the existence of hundreds of photographic negatives directly from Pešta, who handed them over with a note explaining that they were part of the editorial archive of Románo ľil. However, processing them took nearly fifteen years, and the selection of images for the book only took place after his death. The publication itself contains a selection of almost one hundred photographs accompanied by descriptions of varying depth. Many of them, however, remain without accompanying information, thereby creating space for the viewer’s imagination and associative interpretation of the images.

Thematically, Pešta’s work can be divided into three main areas: family, editorial activity, and personal craftwork. The photographs primarily do not represent standalone works of art but are fragments of a personal story, documentary traces of an active and exceptional life.

In an environment where Romani authors were often understood more as objects than as active creators of perspective, the book’s evaluation of Pešta’s work represents a significant breakthrough. In the Czech (and Slovak) context, there is still a lack of publications that focus on the photographic work of a Romani author purely from an aesthetic point of view. Pešta’s book, although created within a museum, historical, and ethnographic framework, is unique for both what it shows and, more importantly, whose voice it allows to be heard.

Andrej Pešta is an exceptional figure not only in Romani culture but also in Central European visual history. An amateur photographer, writer, and visual artist, and above all, a man who enthusiastically documented the world he lived in. In the 1960s, he actively participated in the ethno-emancipation movement connected to the Union of Gypsies-Roma and became one of those who visually recorded its inner life. This was not an external, anthropological view but the perspective of a community member, deeply personal, authentic, and often gently ironic.

Baro frajeris – Velký frajer (Big Shot)

The title of the exhibition may sound like a friendly wink, but it carries a powerful message. In the Romani context, it is an expression of respect for someone with style, confidence, and status. And that is exactly who Andrej Pešta was. The exhibition presents him in a variety of settings—in the garden, by the pool, surrounded by family, and in both intimate and everyday spaces. He is not shown as an exotic object of observation, but as a person in control of his life, guided by his own vision and creative ability.

Pešta could build a sauna, a smokehouse, or a garden gazebo. He owned a car, enjoyed fishing, and went on trips. He lived a life that many Roma under socialism saw as an unattainable dream, and that the majority society viewed as an unimaginable anomaly. The Baro frajeris exhibition therefore does not focus solely on the author himself, but also contributes to reshaping the image of the Romani man in collective memory. At its core, it is about the construction of identity and self-perception: how a person forms an image of themselves, whether consciously or unconsciously. In this context, it is not important who holds the camera or who physically presses the shutter. What matters more is what the act of photographing expresses. The uniqueness of this author lies in his almost obsessive need to document himself in an endless process of self-observation and reflection. These are not just ordinary self-portraits but a systematic examination of his own identity through images, again and again, in various poses, contexts, and moods. It is as if Pešta, through photography, was trying to understand, grasp, or perhaps even create himself.

His photographic work creates a unique visual archive of Romani life during the socialist period, a time often depicted solely from the perspective of the majority. Pešta documented everyday life such as celebrations, family gatherings, moments of rest, and ordinary scenes that would otherwise have gone unrecorded. The result is more than just a collection of photographs; it is a complex visual memory of a community that was at the time largely represented through stereotypes in the public sphere.

The Baro frajeris exhibition at Prague’s Fotograf Zone gallery shifts the perception of Pešta’s work into a new framework. It does not focus solely on the documentary nature of his photographs but emphasizes the body, specifically the Romani body, Pešta’s own, which appears both in front of and behind the lens. This exhibition concept was created by curator Emília Rigová, a visual artist and Romani herself, which brings a new, layered perspective. A meaningful triangle emerges: Romani author, Romani subjects, and Romani curator. In our cultural space, this is a rare situation that challenges the usual hierarchy of viewpoints: who looks, at whom, and who determines meaning.

The fact that Pešta’s photographs are now exhibited in an established art space rather than only in institutions focused on minority cultures signals a shift in social awareness. It shows that these images are no longer just ethnographic material but a full-fledged part of visual culture and art history.

Pešta was not a technically perfect photographer, and that is precisely the strength of his work. He did not strive for formal aesthetics but aimed to capture the reality he lived. In his photographs, we see a man who is not reduced merely to his ethnicity but who has interests, identity, and dignity. We see a fisherman, father, mechanic, and tourist, a man with a sense of seriousness and humor who was aware of the significance of his own existence and wanted to record it.

At a time when Roma were mostly portrayed either in a romanticized or stigmatized way, Pešta’s photographs were almost revolutionary. To depict Roma as subjects with hobbies, pride, and everyday lives was a radical gesture then and perhaps still is today.

Curator: Emília Rigová

Andrej Pešta - Baro frajeris
Fotograf Zone Gallery
Opening: 29 May, 18:00
Duration of the exhibition: 30 May - 18 September 2025
Curator: Emília Rigová
The exhibition is part of the Khamoro Festival of Roma Culture 
and was created with the support of the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno.