Photojournalust
In the past I’ve found that I frequently fall head-over-heels for influential artists that I learn about in class. The same goes for musicians, and just famous people in general. A few that top my list include Paul Simon, Jack Kerouac, Georgia O’Keefe, and Christopher Walken. I call them my “historical soulmates” (even though I know they’re not all deceased), but I think it just means I would’ve really liked to be friends with these people, as most are characterized by some sort of rebellious nature or extraordinary talent.
Well, I fell in love in my photojournalism class last Thursday. His name is Josef Koudelka and he is 70 years old.
My professor, Dennis, devoted the entirety of the class to telling us about Koudelka and how he was such a bad-ass. He grew up in war-torn Moravia, and started taking photographs just for kicks in his teens. In his late twenties he documented the Soviet and Warsaw Pact invasions of Prague. Dennis told us about how Koudelka met a journalist on the street while photographing, who was able to smuggle his film out of the country. Though Koudelka had to remain anonymous due to the threat of arrest, he was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal for these pictures, which is about as prestigious as it gets.
After that, he travelled around Eastern Europe for 25 years sans passport, photographing gypsy life, and sleeping under bridges.
Dennis told us about a conversation a gypsy once had with Koudelka. The gypsy asked him where in the world he felt most content. Koudelka refused to give him an answer, and the gypsy said, “Oh, I get it, you must still be looking for it,” to which Koudelka replied, “You’ve got it all wrong, my friend. I’m desperately trying not to find that place.”
He’s a wanderer4lyfe and I love him.
Go here to see more of Koudelka’s photographs.
