140 DIGITAL CAMERA^ MARCH 2020 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
The other comment that [filmmaker and
theorist of photography and visual culture]
Ariella Azoulay made – which really surprised
me, because she’s a woman and she has
been dealing with this for many years –
was: “You really invented the language of
the occupation.” If it’s true or not, who knows?
I think it was really intuition when I came
here, that I realised that this panoramic
camera can do a good job for that.You’ve talked about your relationships
with the beauty of landscapes, but in
the Holy Land you focused on a landscape
that is being destroyed, devastated
and somewhat manipulated. How
do you explain that relationship?
I’m not sure if it’s really exactly like that, but
I never photographed a beautiful woman.
I remember Cartier-Bresson’s comment on
my landscapes. He said, “I like cultivated
landscape.” I think I have a certain relationship
with the faces [of people] who have had a hard
life, more than the beautiful fashion models.
I think wherever I go, I’m trying to maybe- or maybe I’m wrong – find the beauty [in
a place]. The landscapes that suffer have
a tragedy inside, but in the tragedy there
is also beauty. It’s enough for us to have
a look at the old Greek plays, Greek tragedies.
I think I’m interested in something that
is strong, and what is beautiful.
At Magnum, did you learn any important
things from talking to and working
with Henri Cartier-Bresson?
I learned one thing that has a connection to
Israel. Henri used to say, “You constantly need
to ask, where does the money come from?”
Cartier-Bresson had this trait that he wasalways asking [questions], and he was always
rebelling. He always opposed something,
and that was very important.
That was a fundamental question whenever
Magnum did a project: to find out where the
money is coming from. Of course, it is often
difficult, since everything is interconnected.
But, in principle, there shouldn’t have been
weapons or tobacco industries involved.
Those are just small examples.Is success – as in the freedom it gives
photographers to create, rather than
the material aspects of it – important
for your motivation?
To answer this question, as far as photography
is concerned, it is a great success for me to
do two or three good photographs a year.
And another success is that, when I wake up
in the morning, nothing hurts. I can go outside,
I feel good and I can photograph. That’s what
photography is. Get up in the morning and get
out and go to look. And if you find something
interesting to photograph, and you finish the
day with a few rolls, and you think something
might stay... That’s what the difference is from
selling shoes and taking photographs. You sell
the shoes, you go home, you have some money
and that’s all. [You’ve got] nothing that stays.NEXT
MONTH
Jeff
BridgesAbove: Shu’fat
refugee camp.Above: Koudelka: Shooting
Holy Land is available on
DVD and Blu-Ray.The documentary film Koudelka: Shooting
Holy Land (The Disc Edition), directed
by Gilad Baram and produced by
Nowhere Films, is available on
DVD and Blu-Ray, and as a
streaming video via Vimeo.To find out more, go to
http://www.koudelka-film.comINTERVIEWJosef^ Koudelka^ /MagnumPhotos