Joseph Koudelka, born in 1938, grew up in Moravia and started taking photos of his family and environment at a young age-- with a 6X6 Bakelite camera. He earned a technical degree and started a career in aeronautical engineering, all the while photographing plays, ballets, and other theatre productions.
The first photos that won him fame, were his captured moments of the Soviet army's invasion into Prague in 1968. At the time he was forced to leave his country, but these particular photographs eventually won him the Robert Cappa Gold medal and set the pace for the next several years of his life.
He became somewhat of a nomad, while traveling and photographing Europe. His most well known collection is of the gypsies in the Czech republic. In one photograph, he actually captures a gypsy with his head down, talking to his horse and it looks like the horse is nodding. He sustained his travels solely on grants from several European countries, and concentrated on social and cultural rituals. Like many photojournalists, he became a gypsy himself; his photographs a mirror of his life. He has won many awards and prizes for his photos, and is compared to the greats like Henri Cartier-Bresson. Now he resides in France, but continues to work documenting European landscapes with panoramic views.
Sarah
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