We Three Brothers

This book combines the traditional Slavic tale "We Three Brothers" by Karel Jaromír Erben with illustrative photographs and drawings by Jan Jedli-ka. The story is just one of dozens collected and retold by Czech folklorist and poet Erben (1811-70) and is a cautionary tale of three young brothers, sons of a peasant who leave home to find their way in the world, only to meet a mysterious man with a limp who seals their unfortunate fates. Jedli-ka visualizes the story in muted black-and-white images of a landscape of empty hills and rocky outcrops through which we imagine the brothers traveling. These he complements with more whimsical drawings of the characters of the tale: the brothers and their father, the limping man, a peddler and magistrate. The result is an unconventional modernization of a little-known tale, whose charm and moral still have an uncanny resonance today.
Sprachen: Deutsch, Englisch, Tschechisch

Karel Jaromír Erben (1811-70) was a Czech poet, historian and archivist with a particular interest in the folklore of his homeland. Born in Miletín near Ji-ín, Erben studied philosophy and law in Prague before working there as a court legal official. In 1843 the Czech patriot and historian František Palacký recruited him to join the National Museum; Erben was appointed archives' secretary there in 1850. Erben's books include his Romantic ballads Kytice z pov-stí národních (A Bouquet of Folk Legends) of 1853 and his retelling of traditional stories Sto prostonárodních pohádek a pov-stí slovanských v ná-e-ích p-vodních (One Hundred Slavic Folktales and Legends in Original Dialects) of 1865.
Jan Jedli-ka was born in Prague in 1944, where he studied painting at the academy before immigrating to Switzerland in 1969. He turned to photography rather late in his career. Jedli-ka's work has been exhibited at museums and galleries throughout Europe, including Kunstmuseum and Kunsthalle Winterthur, the National Gallery of Prague, Centro Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in La Spezia, and the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop. Steidl published his Il Cerchio / The Circle in 2008 and 200 m in 2020. Jedli-ka has had a long connection with Italy, and lives in Zurich and Prague.