A revered commercial portraitist in
the Pictorialist style, Frantisek Drtikol, like so many others at the close of
World War I decided to alter his photographic methods, both in front of the
camera and in the darkroom in place of soft-focus romanticism, dramatic
composition of light and shadow created by intense arc-lamp illumination
evolved. Abstracted geometric elements and harmonious configurations of line
and shape were introduced by a judicious placement of plywood studio props. These
accoutrements were not meant to describe
or give contextual information about the sitter but rather constituted elements
of pure design. Drtikol also experimented with unusual vantage points,
depth-of-field manipulations, and high-contrast prints. Innovations such as
these generally have been regarded as the progenitors of the international
Bauhaus style. In addition, the bromoil technique allows for a certain amount
of artistic intervention (pigmented oil is brushed onto a gelatin substrate by
hand) which in its turn further abstracts the image.

The subject of the portrait,
Jaroslav Rossler, is another influential Czech avant-garde photographer who worked
in Drtikol's studio as a student-apprentice from just after World War I until
1925. The photograph was probably taken while Rossler was assisting Drtikol in
building one of his sets.