Markéta Luskačová & Gabriel Rosenstock: Pilgrim Soul

People of the Book

“. . . but one man loved the pilgrim soul in you
and loved the sorrows of your changing face”
—W. B. Yeats

MARKÉTA LUSKAČOVÁ is a world-renowned Czech master photographer, known for her series of photographs taken in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Britain, Ireland and elsewhere. Markéta was born in 1944 and became a freelance photographer in 1968 whilst undertaking postgraduate studies in Photography at the Academy of Film and Fine Arts, Prague. She relocated to London in 1975 and was a Nominee Photographer with Magnum Photographic Agency, Paris, from 1976-80. Since 1971, Markéta’s work has featured in exhibitions around the world and notable solo exhibitions have been held at the V&A, London (1983-84); Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, then a branch of the V&A, London (1989); Whitechapel Gallery, London (1991); Stills Gallery, Sydney, Australia (1998); Leica Gallery, Prague (2014); Tate Britain, London (2018-19); The Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol (2019); and the Stills Gallery, Edinburgh (2023) for her Children exhibition.

Gabriel Rosenstock is a poet, haikuist, tankaist, children’s author, critic, short story writer and translator. Irish (Gaelic) is his literary medium of choice. Born in 1949, he is the author/translator of over 400 books, including 13 volumes of poetry and a volume of haiku, mostly in Gaelic. Prose work includes fiction, essays in The Irish Times, radio plays and travel writing. He has given readings and performances in Europe, the United States, India, Japan and Australia and is a member of Aosdána (Irish Academy of Arts & Letters).

John McDonald is a haiku master and retired stone-mason living in Edinburgh, Scotland. He writes in Scots, one of the two languages native to Scotland (the other being Celtic-rooted Gaelic).

In this week’s guest post for The Culturium, Markéta and Gabriel (with additional Scots translations from John) come together in a stunning collaboration of haiku verse and photography, featuring a series of visceral portraits of the human condition at its most glorious, raw and humbled.