Josef Koudelka

A collection of dramatic panoramic landscapes by a leading Magnum photographer.

About Exiles, Cornell Capa once wrote, Koudelka's unsentimental, stark, brooding, intensely human imagery reflects his own spirit, the very essence of an exile who is at home wherever his wandering body finds haven in the night. In this newly revised and expanded edition of the 1988 classic, which includes ten new images and a new commentary with Robert Delpire, Koudelka's work once more forms a powerful document of the spiritual and physical state of exile. The sense of private mystery that fills these photographs--mostly taken during Koudelka's many years of wandering through Europe and Great Britain since leaving his native Czechoslovakia in 1968--speaks of passion and reserve, of his rage to see. Solitary, moving, deeply felt and strangely disturbing, the images in Exiles suggest alienation, disconnection and love. Exiles evokes some of the most compelling and troubling themes of the twentieth century, while resonating with equal force in this current moment of profound migrations and transience.

"DECREAZIONE" is a book collecting Joseph Koudelka's images exhibited at the fifty-firth Venice Biennale, at the Vatican Pavilion. With his suggestive black-and-white images and his moving, desolated landscapes, Koudelka tells stories of destruction, declined in three different forms: time, violence, and contrast between nature and uncontrolled industrial development. Josef Koudelka was born in Moravia in 1938. He published numerous photographic books on the relationship between man and landscape, about gypsy life, and on the invasion of Prague in 1968. Significant exhibitions of his works have been held at international museums and galleries and he received numerous major awards.

"Koudelka's unsentimental, stark, brooding, intensely human imagery reflects his own spirit, the very essence of an exile who is at home wherever his wandering body finds haven in the night."-Cornell Capa In 1988, Josef Koudelka published what was to become one of his most famous and canonical series: Exiles. These gorgeously austere black-and-white images described the travels and everyday life of the peoples he encountered while roaming Europe. Josef Koudelka: The Making of Exilesis an exploration of the genesis and the making of this photographic journey. Enhanced by numerous photographs that have never been published--in particular the photographer's self-portraits--and captions by Koudelka, it includes numerous archival documents (such as reproductions of his travel journals), thumbnail reproductions of the book's layout, an introduction by curator Clément Chéroux and an essay by photo-historian Michel Frizot, who spent hours interviewing Koudelka. Josef Koudelkawas born in Moravia in 1938. Initially an aeronautic engineer, he launched full time into photography in the late sixties. In 1968, he photographed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, publishing the results under the pseudonym P.P. (Prague Photographer). Koudelka left Czechoslovakia in 1970 and was briefly stateless before obtaining political asylum in England. Shortly afterwards, he joined Magnum Photos. In 1975 he published Gypsies. Koudelka has exhibited at the MoMA and at the International Centre of Photography in New York, at the Hayward Gallery in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

This powerful document of the spiritual and physical state of exile now contains 10 new images by master of photography Josef Koudelka. The sense of mystery that fills these photographs mostly taken during Koudelkas years of wandering through Europe and the United States since leaving his native Czechoslovakia speaks of passion and reserve, of his rage to see. The brilliant accompanying essay by Robert Delpire invokes the soul of man in search of a spiritual homeland; it speaks with a remarkable and unforgettable dignity.

"In this revised and expanded edition of the 1988 classic, which includes new images, Josef Koudelka's work once more forms a powerful document of the spiritual and physical state of exile. Most of the images were taken in Europe during Koudelka's own twenty-year exile from his native Czechoslovakia, starting in 1970, after having left in the wake of photographing the Soviet-led invasion of Prague. The sense of private mystery that fills these photographs speaks of passion and reserve, of his rage to see. Solitary, moving, deeply felt, and strangely disturbing, the images in Exiles suggest alienation, disconnection, and love. Exiles evokes some of the most compelling and troubling themes of the twentieth century, still resonating with equal force during this time of migrations and profound transience"-- Page 2 of book jacket.

When he arrived in Paris, Koudelka had already produced two outstanding works of reportage. One documented the Prague Spring, while the other, on gypsies, could almost have been an ethnological study had its images not been charged with so much emotion. Unknown in 1970, he rose to become one of the most powerful photographers of his day.This book shows that in the lands of exile through which he travels with his amazing urge to see, Koudelkas own particular talent has been affirmed and expanded.