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Jaroslav Poncar

Portrait of Jaroslav   Poncar

Jaroslav Poncar (b.1945 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [Czechia]) is a former professor of photo engineering and a renowned photographer who worked for several German publishers and institutions as well as exploring the technique of panoramic photography in the 1970s while self-publishing his work and pursuing independently his work on sacred or inspiring sites of Asia including Angkor.

After studying atomic physics at Prague Technical University (1962−1966) and obtaining his PhD in theoretical physics at RWTH Aachen University (1971), Jaroslav Poncar settled in Cologne (Köln, Germany) and was appointed Professor of photo engineering at the University of Applied Sciences. 

A freelance photographer with the German Press Agency (dpa) in Africa and Arabia, ​‘Jaro’ Poncar traveled independently from 1974 onwards through the Himalayas, Tibet, India, Burma [Myanmar], Cambodia, and Afghanistan. In 1976, he tested for the first time a panoramic camera – the time-honored Russian FT‑2 – on a trip to the western Himalayas, and from there specialized in panoramic documentation of temple murals, first in Alchi (Ladakh) and then at Angkor Wat. His photographic documentation of the reliefs of Angkor Wat galleries and The Bayon led to the German Apsara Conservation Project, in collaboration with the Fachhochschule Köln (University of Applied Sciences), which ois co-directed from 1995 to 2005. 

His work on the reliefs of Angkor Wat and Bayon galleries, published in English, German and French editions, remains an important source of iconographic documentation for researchers even if the print quality of the first 1995 version didn’t entirely reproduce the photographic precision of this rendition of such monumental artistic creations. 

 

1) Jaroslav Poncar in Angkor Wat to develop panoramic photo documentation of the entire lower galleries, 1998 [photo Jan Wesner Childs]. 2) Devata (2025), amongst the latest and most stunning publications by Jaroslav Poncar, here at Angkor Database library [photo ADB, June 2026.]

 

1) Jaroslav Poncar in Angkor Wat to develop panoramic photo documentation of the entire lower galleries, 1998 [photo Jan Wesner Childs]. 2) Devata (2025), amongst the latest and most stunning publications by Jaroslav Poncar, here at Angkor Database library [photo ADB, June 2026.]

1) Jaroslav Poncar in Angkor Wat to develop panoramic photo documentation of the entire lower galleries, 1998 [photo Jan Wesner Childs]. 2) Devata (2025), amongst the latest and most stunning publications by Jaroslav Poncar, here at Angkor Database library [photo ADB, June 2026.]

With cameraman Wolfgang Kohl, Poncar also filmed documentaries for German television in Yemen, Mali, India, Pakistan, and Tibet. In the summer of 1978, with Wolfgang Kohl and Volker, he undertook an expedition to the Siachen Glacier in East Karakoram, the third visit of Westerners to the largest glacier in the non-polar after Fanny and Hunter Workman (1911 and 1912) and the Italian geologist Giotto Daineli (1930). This exploration to a site that later triggered later the 1984 India-Pakistan conflict was documented in a 45-minute film for German television [Durch die Eiswildnis des Ost-Karakorum] and a book by Jaroslav Poncar. 

After his academic retirement in July 2010 ​‘Jaro’ was back in Afghanistan on one year assignment as an GIZ-CIM (German International Cooperation) expert to document the cultural heritage of the country in photography. He also extensively photographed sites in France (Paris, Loire Valley, Dordogne, Haute-Provence…) and Czechia, and spent two months in residency at the German Academy Villa Massimo, Rome, Italy, in 2013, and kept carrying on publishing and exhibition projects.

Publications

[most of these titles can be purchased through the author’s website].

  • [with text by Roger Goepper] Alchi — Buddhas, Goddesses, Mandalas [catalogue of the exhibition at Cologne Museum of East Asian Art 1982/83, Köln, Du Mont Verlag, 1982 (out of print).
  • [with introduction by David Attenbourough and Roger Goepper, etchings by Jörg Schmeisser and an essay by John Keay] Ladakh — Land der Pässe / Ladakh — Land of Passes, Köln, Wienand Verlag, 1986 (out of print).
  • [with text by John Keay] Tibet — Tor zum Himmel [Tibet, Gate to Heaven], Köln, VGS Verlag, 1988 (out of print).
  • Malerei — Photographie [Paintings/​Photographs] [catalogue of the March-Apr. 1993 exhibition by Bernd Minnich & Jaroslav Poncar], Düsseldorf, Verlag des Kunstvereins für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, 1993.
  • [with text by Albert le Bonheur] FR Des dieux, des rois et des hommes: les bas-reliefs d’Angkor Wat et du Bàyon, Exposition de photographies de M. Jaroslav Poncar et al. au Musée Guimet, Geneva/​Paris, Ed. Olizane, 1995, 112 p. ISBN: ‎ 978 – 2880861780. | ENG Of Gods, Kings, and Men — The Bas-Reliefs of Angkor Wat and the Bayon, London, Serindia Publications, 1995. | DE Von Göttern, Königen und Menschen, Wuppertal, Peter Hammer Verlag, 1995 (out of print). 
  • [with text by Roger Goepper] Alchi – Ladakh’s Hidden Buddhist Sanctuary, London, Serindia Publications, 1996 (out of print).
  • Das Tal der Loire [The Loire Valley], Köln, Emons Verlag, 1997 (out of print).
  • [with text by Jehan Despert] The Loire Valley [panoramic photographs only], Paris, Revue K, 1997.
  • [with text by Annemarie Schimmel, John Keay & alt.] Panorama of India, New Delhi, Timeless Books, 1998 (limited ed. 1,000 copies).
  • Angkor Revisited [catalogue of the exhibitions at Bangkok National Gallery (July 2000) and Singapore Museum of Asian Civilisations (Feb. — April 2001), Bangkok/​Singapore, Goethe Institute, 2000; 2d ed. 2004; 3d ed. 2006.
  • Tibet [68 b/​w and color panoramics], Teneues Publishing (UK) Ltd, 2000. ISBN 9783823854821; Mannheim, Ed. Panorama, 2001. ISBN: 3−89823−130−5. 
  • [with text by Jérôme Godeau] Paris im Panorama/​Paris Panoramic/​Paris à perte de vue, Paris, Revue K, 2002.
  • Tibet, Mannheim, Ed. Panorama Bibliothek, 2004.
  • Himalayas – Where Gods and Man Meet, Mannheim, Ed. Panorama, 2005, 120 p. ISBN: 3−89823−246−8 [Photographic Book of the Year Award 2005] (out of print).
  • Angkor — a photographic portrait [1993 – 2004], Mannhein, Ed. Panorama, 2005. ISBN: 389823−247−6 (out of print.)
  • India [50 panorama photos, ENG/DE], Mannheim, Ed. Panorama Bibliothek, 2005. ISBN: 3−89823−237−9. [DDC Award 2004, IF Communication Award 2005, red dot Award 2005]. 
  • [with text by Thomas S. Maxwell] Of Gods, Kings, and Men — The Reliefs of Angkor Wat, Ed. Panorama/​Serindia Publications, 2006, 192 p. ISBN: 3−89823−264−6.
  • [with text by Emma Larkin] Burma — the Land that Time Forgot [65 panoramics], Mannheim, Ed. Panorama, 2005. ISBN: 978−3−89823−365−1.
  • [with text by Iris Lemanczyk] Tibet Panorama, Mannheim, Ed. Panorama, 2007. ISBN 9783898233491.
  • Himalayan Kingdoms, Mannheim, Ed. Panorama, 2008. ISBN: 978−3−89823−399−6.
  • Yemen Revisited [1972 – 2009], Self-published, 2010. 
  • [with text by Christian Luczanits] Klöster im Himalaja [Monasteries in the Himalayas], Mannheim, Ed. Panorama, 2015.
  • Burma / Myanmar: erweiterte und aktualisierte Neuauflage, Mannheim, Ed. Panorama, 2016. ISBN 9783898235457.
  • [with text by William Darlymple] Afghanistan: Neuauflage 2016, Mannheim, Ed. Panorama, 2016. ISBN: 978−3−89823−544−0.
  • Episoden 1945 — 2015 [autobiography in German with photos], Verlag Dr. Hut, 2017. ISBN: 978−3−8439−3127−4. 
  • Forty Years with FT‑2 (Vierzig Jahre mit FT‑2) [retrospective of 60 selected panoramas], Shelf-published hardcover, cassette and digital versions, 2017 (out of print).
  • Panoramas de France, Self-published, 2019 (out of print).
  • Siachen Expedition 1978, Self-published, 2021 (limited ed. 50 copies, out of print). 
  • Nepal 1980 — 2019, Self-published, 2023 (out of print).
  • Alchi: Ladakh´s Hidden Buddhist Sanctuary (2 Vols), London, Serindia Publications, 2023. ISBN: 978−1−932476−97−2.
  • Mustang — Landscapes, Architecture and Art, Self-published, 2024 (out of print).
  • Jaro on Jaro, Stories behind his pictures, Self-published, 2024. 
  • Devata — the Nymphs of Angor Wat, Paris, Ed. Les Météores, 2025. ISBN: 978−2−9522880−7−1.
  • iPanoramas: Terminus of Panoramic Photography, Self-published, 2026. 

Past Exhibitions

  • “Ladakh”, London, Photographers’ Gallery, 1976.
  • “Ladakh – das Land der vielen Pässe und Klöster”, Informationszentrum der Stadt, Brühl (Germany), May-June 1978. 
  • “Ladakh (mit Radierungen von Jörg Schmeißer)”, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Köln (Germany), April-July 1986. 
  • “Tibet –Fotografien einer Reise”, Bergisches Museum Schloß Burg, Wermelskirchen, Sept.-Oct. 1986. 
  • “Ladakh – Land der Pässe (mit Radierungen von Jörg Schmeißer)”, BMW Galerie, Munich (Germany), Feb.- April 1987.
  • “Tibet – der Teil und das Ganze”, Olympus Galerie, Hamburg, May — July 1988. 
  • “Tibet”, October Gallery, London, May — June 1991. 
  • “Malerei — Photographie [Paintings/​Photographs]” by Bernd Minnich & Jaroslav Poncar,  Düsseldorf, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, March-Apr 1993.
  • “Tibet”, Kunstverein, Düsseldorf, March — Apr. 1993 ; Galerie Christel Fahrenhorst, Hameln, Jan-Feb. 1994. 
  • “Monument der Vergänglichkeit – Angkor Impressionen”, Loft, Köln, Sept. — Oct. 1994. 
  • “Von Göttern, Königen und Menschen [Of Gods, Kings and Men]”, Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum der Stadt, Köln, Nov. 1995 — May 1996. 
  • “Des dieux, des rois et des hommes [Of Gods, Kings and Men]”, Museé Guimet, Paris, Oct. 1995 — Jan. 1996. 
  • “Panorama of India”, Max Müller Bhavan (Goethe Institut), New Delhi, Sept. — Oct. 1997.
  • “Mémoires d’Angkor”, Paris, UNESCO, Jan-Feb. 1997;  Bibliothèque Nationale, Luxemburg, Sept. — Nov. 1997; Museé Departemental de l‘Abbaye de Saint-Riquier, Saint-Riquier, March — May 1998.
  • “In Asien”, Galerie Blüher, Köln, Aug. — Sept. 1998. 
  • “Val de Loire”:  Galerie Blüher, Köln, Jan. — March 1998; Hotel de Ville, Tours (France), July — Sept. 1999. 
  • “Himalayan Kingdoms”, Indigo Gallery, Kathmandu (Nepal), Dec. 1998 — Jan, 1999. 
  • “Heritage of Angkor”, National Gallery, Bangkok, July 2000. 
  • “Angkor”, Indigo Gallery, Kathmandu (Nepal), Dec. 2000 — Jan. 2001.
  • “Platinabzüge aus Angkor/​Panoramas aus Tibet”, Kunstverein, Weinheim (Germany), March — Apr. 2001.
  • “Val de Loire, patrimoine de l’humanité,” Museé de la marine de Loire, Chateauneuf-sur-Loire (France), May — Aug. 2001; Maison du Loir-et-Cher, Blois (France), June — Sept. 2002. 
  • “Tibet-Panoramas”, Museum der Kulturen, Basel (Switzerlan), Jan. — Feb. 2001. 
  • “Heritage of Angkor”, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, Feb. — Apr. 2001. 
  • “25 Jahre mit der FT‑2”, Galerie Blüher, Köln, Sept. — Oct. 2001.
  • “Paris à perte de vue”, Mairie de IVeme Arrdt., Paris, Nov. 2002. 
  • “Von Tibet nach Angkor”,  Art+Form, Dreden (Germany), March — May 2002.
  • Angkor Reflexionen“ (mit Malerei von Antonin Malek und Radierungen von Jörg Schmeißer), Kunstverein, Wesseling, May — June 2002.
  • “Paris”, Galerie Blüher, Köln, Jan — March 2003.
  • “Panoramas einer Exkursion nach Litomerice, Nordböhmen”, FH Köln, Köln, March 2006.
  • “Touched by India,” Künstlerforum Bonn, Bonn, April — May 2006. 
  • “In Asien”, Galerie Werner Klein, Köln, Oct. 2005; Eva Felten, Hittenkirchen am Chiemsee, May 2006. 
  • “Litomerice a Ceske stredohori ocima studentu z Kolina nad Rynem”, Divadlo Karla Hynka Machy, Litomerice (Czechia), April — June 2006. 
  • “Angkor”, Galerie Werner Klein, Köln, Dec. 2006 — Jan. 2007. 
  • “Sacred Vistas and Ancient Stones”: Xanadu Gallery, San Francisco (USA), Nov. — Dec. 2006; Gallery Nord, San Antoni (Texas, USA), April — June 2007; The Beeville Art Museum (TX, USA), May — July 2008.
  • “Ceske stredohori and Tibet,” Galerie moderního umění v Roudnici nad Labem (Czechia), May — June 2007.
  • “Angkor-Fotografien von Jaroslav Poncar”, art73, Ratingen, March — April 2007.
  • “Himalaya — le vertige du regard,” Galerie Voleur d´images, Paris — Nov. 2007 — Feb. 2008.
  • “Panoramatické pohlednice z Francie (Panorama-Postcards from France)”, Divadlo Karla Hynka Machy, Litomerice (Leitmeritz, Czech Republic), Sept. — Dec. 2008. 
  • “Various Panoramas”, Gallery Nord, San Antonio (TX, USA), Aug. 2009. 
  • “Paris in Panorama, Serindia Gallery”, Bangkok, Sept — Oct. 2009.
  • “Ladakh 1974 – 2008”, Forum für Fotografie, Köln, June – July 2010.
  • “Tibet — Landscape of Myth and Legends,” DOX — Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague, May — June 2011.
  • “Photographs from Afghanistan,” Kunsträume der Michael Horbach Stiftung, Köln, May — August 2013. 
  • “Tibet — Looking Back,” Tibet House, New York, Jan.- March 2016. 
  • “Forty Years with FT‑2 (Vierzig Jahre mit FT‑2)”, retrospective of 60 selected panoramas, Rome, Oct. 2016.
  • “Glimpses of Mustang”, Tibet House, New York, May — July 2017. 
  • “Kunst hilft Kambodscha”, Köln Coffee Lounge, Köln , May – June 2018. 
  • “Ladakh 1974 — 2018: A photographic Homage to the Land of Many Passes”, Tibet House, New York, Jan.-Feb. 2019. 
  • “Panoramas 1976 to 2016”, Kunstraub 99, Köln, Oct — Nov 2022. 
  • “Far Countries — Close People”, Forum für Fotografie, Köln, Jan. 2021 – Jan. 2022. 
  • “Panoramas 1976 to 2016”, Kunstraub 99, Köln, Oct-Nov 2022.