Josef Koudelka (born 10 January 1938) is a Czech-French photographer. He is a member of Magnum Photos and has won awards such as the Prix Nadar (1978), a Grand Prix National de la Photographie (1989), a Grand Prix Henri Cartier-Bresson (1991), and the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography (1992). Exhibitions of his work have been held at the Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography, New York; the Hayward Gallery, London; the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; and the Palais de Tokyo, Paris.

Biography

Koudelka was born in 1938 in the small Moravian town of Boskovice, Czechoslovakia. He began photographing his family and the surroundings with a 6×6 Bakelite camera. He studied at the Czech Technical University in Prague (ČVUT) in 1956, receiving a degree in engineering in 1961. The Romani led a nomadic lifestyle and each summer Koudelka would travel for the project, "carrying a rucksack and a sleeping bag, sleeping in the open air, and living frugally". He witnessed and recorded the military forces of the Warsaw Pact as they invaded Prague and crushed reforms of the so-called Prague Spring.

Koudelka's pictures of the events became dramatic international symbols, and came to be "recognised as one of the most powerful photojournalistic essays of the 20th century".

In 1987, Koudelka became a French citizen, and was able to return to Czechoslovakia for the first time, in 1990.

Koudelka lives in France and Prague and is continuing his work documenting the European landscape. and a son, Nicola Koudelka.

Work

Koudelka's early work significantly shaped his later photography, and its emphasis on social and cultural rituals as well as death. He soon moved on to a more personal, in depth photographic study of the Gypsies of Slovakia, and later Romania. This work was exhibited in Prague in 1967. Throughout his career, Koudelka has been praised for his ability to capture the presence of the human spirit amidst dark landscapes. Desolation, waste, departure, despair and alienation are common themes in his work. His characters sometimes seem to come out of fairytales. Still, some see hope within his work – the endurance of human endeavor, in spite of its fragility. His later work focuses on the landscape removed of human subjects.

His most recent book, Wall: Israeli and Palestinian Landscapes, was published by Aperture Foundation in 2013. A documentary about Koudelka's work there, Koudelka Shooting Holy Land, was released in 2015.

Publications

  • Diskutujeme o morálce dneška. Czechoslovakia: Nakladatelství Politické Literatury, 1965.
  • Kral Ubu: Rozbor inscenace Divadla Na Zábradlí v Praze (with Alfred Jarry). Czechoslovakia: Divadelní Ústav, 1966.
  • Rozbor insenace Divadla Na zábradlí v Praze, 1966.
  • Josef Koudelka, 1968.
  • Gitans = Gypsies
  • Gitans: la fin du voyage. Paris: Delpire, 1975. ASIN B0014M0TV8.
  • Gypsies. New York: Aperture, 1975. .
  • Lime Stone. France: La Martinière, 2001.
  • Josef Koudelka. Czech Republic: Torst, 2002. .
  • Théâtre du Temps. France: Actes Sud. ; (Teatro del Tempo), Italy: Peliti Associati; Greece: Apeiron, 2003.
  • L'épreuve totalitaire. Paris: Delpire, 2004. With an essay by Jean-Pierre Montier.
  • Koudelka: Camargue. France: Actes Sud, 2006. .
  • Koudelka. France: Delpire; Italy: Contrasto; New York: Aperture; UK: Thames & Hudson; Germany: Braus; Spain: Lunwerg; Czech Republic: Fototorst, 2006.
  • Joseph Koudelka Photofile. Thames & Hudson, 2007. .
  • Invasion 68: Prague. New York: Aperture. ; France: Tana. , 2008.
  • Koudelka Piedmont. Contrasto, 2010. .
  • Lime. Paris: Xavier Barral, 2012. .
  • Wall. New York: Aperture, 2013. .
  • 1980: National Endowment for the Arts Council, US
  • 1987: Grand Prix National de la Photographie, French Ministry of Culture, France
  • 1989: Grand Prix National de la Photographie.
  • 1991: , France
  • 1998: The Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) in recognition of a sustained, significant contribution to the art of photography in 1998.
  • 2004: Cornell Capa Infinity Award, International Center of Photography, New York City
  • 2015: Dr. Erich Salomon Award

Exhibitions

  • 1961 – Divadlo Semafor, Prague
  • 1967 – Josef Koudela: Cikáni – 1961–1966, Divadlo za branou, Prague
  • 1968 – Josef Koudela: Divadelní fotografie – 1965–1968, Divadlo za branou, Prague
  • 1975 – Josef Koudelka, Museum of Modern Art, New York
  • 1977 – Gitans: la fin du voyage, Galerie Delpire, Paris; Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; The Tel-Aviv Museum, Israel; Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
  • 1978 – Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 1984 – Josef Koudelka, Hayward Gallery, London. An exhibition of the Prague invasion pictures, crediting Koudelka for the first time. Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico.
  • 2003 – Teatro del Tempo, Mercati di Traiano, Rome
  • 2006 – Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France: exhibition and laureate of the Discovery Award
  • 2008
  • Screening at Théâtre antique d'Orange, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France
  • Prague 1968, Aperture Gallery, New York
  • Koudelka, Benaki Museum, Athens
  • Josef Koudelka, Pera Museum, İstanbul
  • Invaze = Invasion, Old Town Hall, Prague
  • 2010 – Invasion Prague 68, Photo Cube Market Square, Guernsey
  • 2011 – Invasion 68 Prague, The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow
  • 2012 – Zingari, Fondazione Forma, Milan
  • 2013 – Vestiges 1991–2012, Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseilles, France
  • 2013/2014 – Josef Koudelka Retrospective, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
  • 2014/2015 – Josef Koudelka: Nationality Doubtful, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Getty Center, Los Angeles; Fundacion Mapfre, Madrid
  • 2016/2017 – "Exiles | Wall" Netherlands Photo Museum
  • 2018 – Josef Koudelka: Returning, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague
  • 2019 – Josef Koudelka: Exiles, Sofia City Art Gallery, Sofia

Collections

Koudelka's work is held in the following permanent collections:

  • Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

See also

  • Josef Sudek

References

  • Koudelka at Magnum Photos
  • A look at the Josef Koudelka retrospective at the National Gallery's Trades Fair Palace in Prague, 2003
  • Josef Koudelka: Contact Sheets

Interviews

  • Interview with Frank Horvat (January 1987)
  • Praga '68 – la Primavera di Koudelka, La Domenica di Repubblica, article and interview about photographs of the Soviet invasion of Prague
  • Josef Koudelka in conversation with Shela Sheikh, about This Place project photographing Israel and the West Bank