Josef Koudelka – författare

A rare glimpse into the mind and artistic process of one of the world’s greatest photographers.Distilled from sixty‑nine journals kept over the course of fifty‑plus years, Josef Koudelka: Diaries offers a look inside the mind and artistic process of the iconoclastic Czech photographer renowned for a life in exile and legendary projects on the Roma, the 1968 Soviet-led invasion in Prague, and the devastating impact humans have on the landscape. Facsimile pages from the diaries, along with images by the photographer, including self‑portraits, lend the volume an immediacy and authenticity. As curator Tomáš Pospěch writes, “Koudelka’s diaries are a ‘cookbook’ of classic photography. He associated with the most renowned photographers. His notes sum up his rich experience, including with the now‑vanishing technology of analog black‑and‑white photography. His remarks, quips, and stories reappear, just as he repeatedly made resolutions, affirmed the rules he had adopted, and recalled earlier events and dreams.” Diaries is a perfect companion to Josef Koudelka: Next (2023), the visual biography by Melissa Harris.

Josef Koudelka’s landmark photographs of the Prague Spring and the resulting Soviet invasion. Josef Koudelka never planned to become a conflict reporter. That all changed on the night of 21 August, when Soviet tanks entered Prague, ending the short-lived political liberalization in Czechoslovakia. 'I wasn’t a reporter,' Koudelka recalls. 'I had never photographed anything that you would call ""news"". Suddenly, for the first time in my life, I was confronted with that kind of situation. I responded to it. I knew it was important to photograph, so I photographed.' For fear of repercussions, Koudelka originally published the images under the pseudonym 'PP' (Prague photographer). The intensity and significance of the images earned the still-anonymous photographer the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award. Sixteen years would pass before Koudelka could safely acknowledge authorship. Now reissued in a hardback format, this bold new edition will bring these vital photographs back to the public eye, standing as a stark reminder of the importance of bearing witness to violence and brutality.