Josef Koudelka

Josef Koudelka is a Czech photographer, born in 1938 and naturalized French in 1987. He is one of the great representatives of the humanistic and poetic tradition that dominated European photography in the second half of the twentieth century. He began his career as an aeronautical engineer, and started photographing Roma people in his spare time in 1962, before turning full-time to photography in the late 1960s. In 1968, Koudelka photographed the Soviet invasion of Prague, publishing his photographs under the initials P.P. (Prague Photographer). In 1969, he was anonymously awarded the Overseas Press Club’s Robert Capa Gold Medal for the photographs. Koudelka left Czechoslovakia seeking political asylum in 1970. Shortly thereafter, he joined Magnum Photos, where he is now a contributor.

In 1975, his first book, Gypsies, was published by Aperture, and subsequent titles include Exiles (1988), Chaos (1999), Invasion 68: Prague (2008), Wall (2013), and most recently Ruines (2020).

Koudelka has won major awards, such as the Prix Nadar (1978), Grand Prix National de la Photographie (1989), Grand Prix 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; Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Art Institute of Chicago; and Museum of Decorative Arts and the National Gallery, Prague. In 2012, he was named Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.

Significant exhibitions of his work have been held at the Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography, New York; the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam; the Institute of Chicago; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the Palais de Tokyo, Paris; and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.