Biography timeline: how it really has been… or how I remember it.
- Aug 29
Birthday
Born to Jiří Růžek (1944–2014) and Miloslava Růžková (1948–2017) in Litoměřice (Jarošova 26), Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic.
Zodiac sign: Virgo.
Elementary School
2. ZŠ (Máchova) in Litoměřice, later Libochovany and Žalhostice.
- Nov
Resides to Libochovany
Moved to Libochovany, a beautiful village in the north of Bohemia.
- Jul
My first camera
Got my first camera, a cheap Smena 8M by the Soviet brand Lomo. I still have it.
High School
Gymnázium Josefa Jungmanna in Litoměřice, computers and programming. 1984, playing bass guitar (photo by Miroslav Hvorka).
Music
Played bass guitar and sang in various music bands, sometimes wrote lyrics.
Conservatory
Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in Prague, song lyrics and scenario writing (unfinished for personal reasons).
Teachers: Drahoš Čadek, Marek Stašek, Jiří Suchý, Pavel Kopta, Ivan Vyskočil, Otakar Roubínek, Josef Brukner, Zdeněk Borovec…
- Dec
Peavey T-40 Bass
Bought an amazing Peavey T-40 bass guitar, built in 1979. The first owner was Lexa Čihař, who played this instrument for 5 years with Václav Neckář and Bacily, Helena Vondráčková etc. I played this bass guitar for the next 20 years and of course I still have it. It has too rich a history to be sold.
Photo: Angelina Nda Felai Martin (Namibia) playing my Peavey T-40, 2006.
Czechoslovak Army
What to tell about that… Thanks to the Velvet Revolution I was there „only“ 18 months instead of the expected 2 years.
- Oct
Moved back to Litoměřice
When the army service ended, I moved back to my hometown.
- Apr
First photographs of women
Bought a Zenit TTL camera (again Soviet brand) and started to take photographs of various people, music bands and… beautiful women.
My first model was Martina Cyrkvová. The model on this photograph is Lada Bačíková.
Big thanks to my patient teacher Miroslav Hvorka.
Break
Did not take photographs during that time.
- Apr 5
JR, jr.
My son Jiří was born in Litoměřice.
- Jan
Moved to Prague
My new home…
- Apr 22
A New Start
After some years I started to take photographs again, this time seriously (and only digitally for some time).
- Jun
Met Ludmila
Our first meeting and first coffee with Ludmila Foblova. We have drunk a lot of coffees since then.
- Aug 2
jiriruzek.net
Registered the jiriruzek.net domain.
- Dec
- Aug
1st Standalone Exhibition
Again in the 1. Holešovická kavárna, Prague 7.
- Jan
1st Book
Since 2009 my photographs have been published in various books across the continents. See the list of books.
- Jul
- Oct 6 – 11
Designblok 2009 Exhibition
Superstudio A4 Holešovický pivovar, Prague.
- Mar 2 – 31
Holky v altánu / Girls in the Arbor
Exhibition „Jiri Ruzek – Girls in the Arbor“, Viniční altán, Prague 2.
- Mar 29 – Apr 3
Prague Photo 2010
Exhibition Hall Mánes, Prague.
- Mar 29
Základní instinkt 2010
1st prize (spring semifinal of the Instinkt magazine best nude photo contest).
- Jun – Sep
Maximální fotografie
Castle Rudoltice.
- Sep 29 – Oct 31
V lůně Středohoří / In the Bosom of the Middle Mountains
Exhibition „Jiri Ruzek – In the Bosom of the Middle Mountains“, Photogallery Na Baště, Litoměřice.
- Nov 8
Digiforum 2010
Clarion Congress Hotel, Prague. Together with Jan Saudek, Robert Vano and other great Czech and Slovak photographers.
- Dec 6 – 8
Art For Sue Ryder
Domov Sue Ryder, Prague.
- Dec 18
Základní instinkt / Basic Instinct
Malostranská Beseda, Prague.
- Jan
3D Anaglyph Photos
When I started to take 3D anaglyph photographs, I did it just for fun and did not plan any bigger 3D portfolio. See the photographs.
- Feb 28 – Mar 12
Základní instinkt / Basic Instinct
FotoŠkoda Gallery, Prague.
- May
Return to analog photography
Returned back to the roots, to analog (film) cameras. Since then I take both digital and analog photos. See the photographs.
- Jul – Oct
Naked in Algarve
Galeria Arte Algarve, Lagoa, Portugal.
- Jan – Feb
Feminae
Fábrica Braço de Prata, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Jan 18
New Website
New version of this website.
- Jun 7
Web Archived by the National Library
The whole content of this website has been archived by the National Library of the Czech Republic.
- Jun 27
New Website
Current version of this website has been released.
- Dec
Million Visitors
The 1,000,000th visitor came to jiriruzek.net from Coraopolis, USA.
- Nov
Nikon → Fuji
After many years with (also great) Nikon cameras I have completely converted to the amazing Fuji X system.
- Aug 13
X-Photographer
Listed in the official Fujifilm X-Photographers gallery.
- Feb
2 Million Visitors
jiriruzek.net has reached 2 million visitors, with approximately 100,000 pages viewed per month.
