On Friday, September 4, at 7:00 PM, 2/3 Gallery will open the solo exhibition of Czech artist Roman Franc, curated by Călina Coman and titled In Good Company. The opening will take place in the presence of the artist and curator.
The exhibition brings together works from the Colorful Stories, My Little Miracles, and Collectives series, created between 2020 and 2025, and explores the ways in which encounters with people, places, and improbable situations give rise to gentle images that pass through the portal of documentary photography and reach a hybrid dimension of staging. The ten photographs capture unexpected, humorous circumstances, infused with the artist’s playful and relaxed spirit, and are grounded in recognizable elements and close or circumstantial relationships with those portrayed. From waiting an entire year for hoarfrost in apple orchards, to a group of hunters and a borrowed Lamborghini, gymnasts hanging from trees, langos in the middle of summer, and romantic proposals on a building under construction, Franc’s photography accompanies both the particularities behind each frame and the symbolism and process through which they ultimately come into being. The event continues the artist’s cultural dialogue with Romania and offers Bucharest audiences the opportunity to discover several photographs that have never before been exhibited in the country.
The opening will be preceded by an artist talk by Roman Franc at the Center for Resources in Photography, 68 Popa Tatu Street.
The exhibition is organized in partnership with the Czech Centre, the Center for Resources in Photography, and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Romania, with the support of NAIV. The project is co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN). The project does not necessarily represent the position of AFCN. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or for the way in which the project’s results may be used.
Roman Franc (b. 1983, Brno, Czech Republic) is a Czech photographer whose practice focuses primarily on portraiture and staged photography. He studied pedagogy at Masaryk University in Brno and photography at the Institute of Creative Photography at Silesian University in Opava, where he also completed a doctoral program between 2017 and 2024 and worked as an associate professor. His projects include My Little Miracles, Collectives, Brother, Portraits, Sokol: The Loyal Guard, and My Name Is Hungry Buffalo. As an author and co-author, Franc published House of Essens and My Name Is Hungry Buffalo in 2017, Watch the Birdie! in 2021, and The Zbrojovka Phenomenon in 2022. My Name Is Hungry Buffalo (2017) was named one of the most beautiful books in the Czech Republic. Between 2008 and 2011, he worked as a photographer for the Office of the President of the Czech Republic during Václav Havel’s presidency. His practice also includes curatorial and editorial projects, as well as photography courses and workshops for public and private institutions. His photographs are held in collections including the Moravian Gallery in Brno, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, and the Zillman Art Museum. In 2023, the Collectives project was presented at the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest, while Grupy was exhibited at Leica Gallery Prague. Roman Franc is currently represented by Boswell Mourot Fine Art in Little Rock, Arkansas.
