Jiųí Platenka was born in Holice v Čechách.
He graduated from high school and a mechanical engineering college. All his life he worked as a design engineer and a designer at the local firm TOS Holice, now BSH Holice.
As a photographer, he completed several courses that helped expand his horizons. From 1964 to 1966 he studied at the Fotostudio that was part of the District Cultural Centre in Hradec Králové. His teacher was the associate professor Ján mok. Between 1971 and 1973 he attended the classes of professor K.O. Hrubý at the Institute of Art Photography in Brno. Jaroslav Vávra was his last teacher in 1975 and 1976, when he attended Mr. Vávra's lectures on colour photography.
Photography was a source of happiness and self-realization for Jiųí Platenka. In the beginning of his career, he was concentrating on the landscape photography. Above all he paid attention to unusual or unexpected textures and compositional details that he then incorporated into his stimulating compositions and images.
Landscape photography (and, later on, portraits) had been his main focus of interest all his life. He was not interested in simple reflection of reality, his goal was to incorporate his unique artistic vision into his work. He was open-minded and so he experimented with unusual compositions, textures, light, and angles. He was also drawn to the interesting, though difficult, medium of photographic collage. All his works attest to the high professional and artistic standard that he set for himself and that was recognized and appreciated at home and abroad.
In 1978 he was awarded the title "the Author of the Association of the Czech Photographers".
He participated in more than a hundred of exhibitions abroad and was awarded several first prizes. The European Photographic Association (FIAP) recognized the quality of his work by one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals, as well as three honourable mentions.
The list of locations of his solo exhibitions in Czech Republic:
Holice v Čechách, Pardubice, Hradec Králové, Vysoké Mýto, Liberec, Česká Lípa, Sezimovo Ústí, Písek, Jablovec nad Nisou, Turnov. He died before the opening of his last exhibition in Moravská Tųebová.
The list of locations of his solo exhibitions abroad:
Germany: Friedrichsbrunn,Quedlinburg, Hamburg, and Heidelberg (the Project PHOTOART in 1988, 1989, 1990)
Spain: San Sebastian, Zaragoza, Logrono
France: Mauléon, Laon, Soissons, Vervins, Nonvion-en-Thiérache, Serénange
Belgium: Arlon
Italy: Saronno
Turkey: Istanbul, Ankara
Austria: Traun.