Andrej Pešta: Baro frajeris – Big Shot

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.

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. Processing them took nearly fifteen years. In 2017, eight years after Pešta's death, the museum published a book entitled Andrej Pešta O Fotki, which contains a selection of nearly 100 photographs. 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Text | Emília Rigová

IMAGES CAPTIONS

1 | Andrej Pešta in the yard of his (second) house, with his artistic creations made from scrap metal visible in the background, 1980s, Podbřežice.
2 | Andrej Pešta grafting young trees in the garden at his cottage in Brno – Obřany, 1970s.
3 | Andrej Pešta with his wife and granddaughter on the terrace of their cottage in Brno – Obřany, 1970s.
4 | Andrej Pešta by a birch tree with his head bowed, summertime. Place and year of the photograph are not specified.
5 | Andrej Pešta by the swimming pool he built himself at his cottage in Brno – Obřany, 1970s.
Reproduction – digital print on paper
From the collection of the Museum of Romani Culture, a state contributory organization.