1930s-1940s, mostly later vintage enlargements by the artist A set of three gelatin silver photographs on glossy paper. The set contains: "Buď opatrným" (Be Careful), an original vintage enlargement. 20.2x26.3 cm. Verso in pencil the artist's name and the title of the work. Two further later enlargements by the artist of his famous photographs. The first, entitled "Zachráněný" (The Rescued), 1934, 23.7x17.5 cm, verso the artist's stamp; and the second, entitled "Návrat lidických žen" (The Return of the Women of Lidice), 1945, 29.9x39.9 cm, verso fitted with the artist's stamp, the title of the work in marker and other notes. "Buď opatrným" has several small creases, minimally lifted emulsion at the edges in several places, well-preserved condition. "Zachráněný" well-preserved condition. "Návrat lidických žen" has torn edges, is folded, damaged. Karel Hájek - an important Czechoslovak reportage photographer, founder of modern photojournalism, organiser, theorist and teacher. He trained as a locksmith, and after the First World War settled in Prague, where he began working as a factory labourer. From 1926 to 1932 he worked as a tram driver, and during this employment he began photographing everyday scenes of the streets of Prague. In the 1930s he was already collaborating with the magazine Pestrý týden; from 1932 he worked for the Melantrich publishing house, and from 1945 for the magazine Svět v obrazech, as well as for a number of other magazines. He became renowned as a versatile reportage photographer with a focus on social photography and portraits of famous figures (T. G. Masaryk, E. Beneš, V. Vančura, F. X. Šalda). Outside this field he excelled in photographs of nature and wildlife. He placed great emphasis on determining the final crop when enlarging, and therefore used chiefly medium-format cameras (Rolleiflex, Hasselblad), which allowed him this thanks to their negative format. He published several independent photographic publications (Jihočech Emil Hácha, 1942; Poslední cesta TGM [The Last Journey of TGM], 1947; Krásy myslivosti [The Beauties of Hunting], 1953; Gagarin v Praze [Gagarin in Prague], 1961) and contributed to a number of others. In 1955 he received the Award for Outstanding Work, and in 1966 he was named Meritorious Artist. His work was presented at exhibitions, for example in 1935 in Prague, 1959-1961 in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Karlovy Vary, Varna, Berlin and a number of other venues at home and abroad.