{{Short description|Czech-British photographer (1953–2004)}} '''Ivan Kyncl''' (15 April 1953 – 6 October 2004) was a Czech-British theatre photographer.<ref name="guardianobit">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/oct/19/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1|title=Obituary Ivan Kyncl|first=Terry|last=Hands|author-link=Terry Hands|work=The Guardian|date=19 October 2004|access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> After fleeing his native Czechoslovakia in 1980, he became a British citizen and worked as the Royal Shakespeare Company's house photographer as well as in numerous other theatres in the United Kingdom until his death in 2004.
==Early life== Kyncl was born in Prague on 15 April 1953.<ref name="guardianobit"/> He was not allowed to enter university on account of his father being imprisoned, subsequently becoming a professional photographer and taking photos of political prisoners and dissidents in Czechoslovakia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.radio.cz/britain-pays-last-respects-czech-born-theatre-photographer-ivan-kyncl-8091940|title=Britain pays last respects to Czech-born theatre photographer Ivan Kyncl|first=Pavla|last=Horáková|work=Radio Prague|date=20 October 2004|access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> His photography involved shooting on location at prisons and courts, and using hidden cameras for close objects, as well as telephoto lenses for things he could not approach.<ref name="idnes-exib">{{cite web|url=https://www.idnes.cz/kultura/vytvarne-umeni/ivan-kyncl-obetoval-fotografii-vse-i-zivot.A070302_163011_vytvarneum_off|title=Ivan Kyncl obětoval fotografii vše. I život|work=idnes.cz|language=cs|date=3 March 2007|access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> He left his home country in 1980.
==Move to the United Kingdom== In 1980 Kyncl was granted asylum in the United Kingdom, before becoming the Royal Shakespeare Company's house photographer in the 1980s. He also worked for the Royal Court Theatre, the Almeida Theatre, and the Royal National Theatre. In his lifetime he gained British citizenship.<ref name="guardianobit"/>
==Personal life== His parents were Jiřina Kynclová, who survived him, and writer {{ill|Karel Kyncl|cs}}, a Charter 77 signatory, who died in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cesky.radio.cz/zemrel-fotograf-ivan-kyncl-syn-chartisty-a-novinare-karla-kyncla-8517773|title=Zemřel fotograf Ivan Kyncl, syn chartisty a novináře Karla Kyncla|work=Radio Prague|first=Zdeněk|last=Vališ|language=cs|date=7 October 2004|access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> Kyncl died in 2004 at the age of 51 due to heart failure. He was survived by his wife of 23 years, Alena.<ref name="guardianobit"/>
==Legacy== In 2007, the first Czech exhibition solely of Kyncl's work was held in Prague.<ref name="idnes-exib"/> Czech Television broadcast a documentary about Kyncl's life in 2017, titled ''Mistr objektivu - Ivan Kyncl''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/11307178721-mistr-objektivu-ivan-kyncl/|title=Mistr objektivu - Ivan Kyncl|work=Czech Television|language=cs|date=2017|access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> In 2019 his work went on display for four months at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in an exhibition entitled ''Ivan Kyncl: In the Minute''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.radio.cz/va-museum-london-showing-czech-photographer-ivan-kyncl-8138216|title=V&A Museum in London showing Czech photographer Ivan Kyncl|first=Daniela|last=Lazarová|work=Radio Prague|date=19 February 2019|access-date=30 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/feb/26/alan-rickman-cate-blanchett-ivan-kyncl-theatre-in-pictures-v-and-a|title=Views of the gods: Alan Rickman, Cate Blanchett and more theatre legends – in pictures|work=The Guardian|date=26 February 2019|access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{portal bar|Visual arts|Czech Republic}} {{authority control|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyncl, Ivan}} Category:1953 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Czech photographers Category:Czechoslovak photographers Category:Czechoslovak emigrants to England Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Category:Photographers from Prague Category:Political prisoners in former countries Category:Theatrical photographers Category:Burials at Vinohrady Cemetery