Josef Koudelka

Josef Koudelka was born the year 1938 in Boskovice, Czechoslovakia. He began taking photographs of his family and the surroudings of his hometown with a 6 x 6 Bakelite camera. At the age of 23, he earned a degree at the Technical University in Prague and soon started working as an aeronautical engineer. In the meanwhile, Koudelka began photographing theatre productions on an old Rolleiflex camera in his free time.

In 1968, when the Soviet armies invaded the city of Prague, Koudelka was there to witness the event, and the pictures he took helped him to win the Robert Capa Gold Medal. Koudelka soon found himself at the peek of his career as a photographer, and after flying to Czechoslovakia in 1970, he managed to win asylum in England, were he spent the next 10 years of his life.

Throughout the next decades, Koudelka continued his work travelling all around Europe and won numerous grants and awards, such as the Prix Nadar in 1978 or the Grand Prix National de la Photographie in the year 1989.

Josef Koudelka became a French citizen in 1987, and he currently resides in France and is nowadays continuing his work documenting the vast diversity of the European landscape.

Wrist Watch (1968)
Photograph taken in Prague (Czechoslovakia) during the Soviet invasion.



Russian Tank in Prague (1968)
Photograph taken during the Soviet invasion in Prague.



Soviet Tank (1968)
Photograph taken in Prague during the Soviet invasion.