published with the initials P.P. (Prague photogra-
pher) to spare his family any possible reprisal. The
highly dramatic pictures showing Russian tanks
rolling into Prague and the Czech resistance became
international symbols and won ‘‘anonymous Czech
photographer’’ the Overseas Press Club’s presti-
gious Robert Capa Gold Medal. The photographs
would not be published under Koudelka’s name
until 1984, following his father’s death.
Koudelka left Czechoslovakia on a three-month
exit visa in 1970 to photograph gypsies in the West.
He did not return after the expiration of the visa
and became stateless. England granted him politi-
cal asylum that same year. Introduced to the
photographer’s cooperative Magnum Photos by
Elliot Erwitt, Koudelka became an associate in
1971 and a full member in 1974. Despite numerous
offers of work, Koudelka refused most assign-
ments. In constant movement, he preferred to wan-
der around Europe in search of pictures of a world
that he felt was rapidly disappearing.
In 1986, Koudelka began working with a Linhof
panoramic camera. The wide format for portraying
the city and countryside had long interested him.
Even his early work includes attempts to achieve a
panoramic view, with either horizontal or vertical
cropping from originally square negatives. Kou-
delka used panorama to photograph the changes
wrought by the construction of the Channel Tunnel
in France in 1988, the fall of the Berlin Wall in
1988–1991, and the war in Beirut, Lebanon in 1991.
This new camera also enabled Koudelka to make
a series of apocalyptic photographs about the cat-
astrophic state of the countryside. After becoming
a French citizen in 1987, he was able to go back to
the current Czech Republic for the first time in
- The visit led toBlack Triangle, a study of
his native country’s landscape wasted by industria-
lization and environmental catastrophes. Monu-
mental, painterly compositions of superbly
balanced and expressively provocative panoramic
shots show how oversized technological instru-
ments have transformed the land into a ravaged
and unkempt stage devoid of human presence.
Koudelka has been the recipient of major awards
such as a grant from the British Arts Council to
document the disappearing Roma life in England
(1976). He also received an official invitation from
the French Ministry to document urban and rural
landscapes in France (1986). The grants sustained
him through long-term projects in black and white
that led to the publication of several books includ-
ingGypsies (1978) andExiles(1988), which was
shot at the edges of Europe in Ireland, Spain, Por-
tugal, and Greece. His most recent publication is
Lime Stone (2001), which continues Koudelka’s
emphasis on landscapes devastated by people.
CarynE. Neumann
Seealso:Magnum Photos; Panoramic Photography;
Photography in Russia and Eastern EuropeBiography
Born in Boskovice, Moravia, Czechoslovakia (Czech Re-
public), 10 January 1938. Graduated from Technical
University, Prague, with a degree in aeronautical engi-
neering, 1961. Completes military service in Bratislava,
Czechoslovakia, 1962. Works as an aeronautical engi-
neer in Prague and Bratislava, 1961–1967. Member of
the Union of Czechoslovak Artists, 1965–1970. Union of
Czechoslovak Artists Annual Award for Theater Photo-
graphy, 1967. Leaves Czechoslovakia, 1970. Granted
asylum in England, 1970. Member of Magnum Photos,
1971–. Prix Nadar, 1978. United States National Endow-
ment for the Arts Photography Grant, 1980. Leaves
England to reside in France, 1980. Still stateless, he tra-
vels throughout Europe, 1980–1987. Naturalized in
France, 1987. Grand Prix National de la Photographie,- Hugo Erfurth Prize, City of Leverkusen, Germany
and Agfa-Geveart AG, 1989. Prix Romanes, 1989. Henri
Cartier-Bresson Award 1991. Chevalier de l’Ordre des
Arts et des Lettres, 1992. The Hasselblad Foundation
International Award in Photography, 1992. Centenary
Medal, Royal Photographic Society, 1998.
Individual Exhibitions
1961 Fotographie—Josef Koudelka s texty Karla Valtery;Sema-
for, Prague
1968 Josef Koudelka; Divadlo za branou, Prague
1969 Theatre Photography 1965–1970; Aldwych Theatre, Lon-
don
1975 Josef Koudelka; Museum of Modern Art, New York
1975 Josef Koudelka; Carlton Gallery, New York
1976 Josef Koudelka; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
1977 Gitans: La fin du Voyage; Galerie Delpire, Paris
1977 Josef Koudelka; Victoria and Albert Museum, London
1980 Camera Obscura; Stockholm
1981 Josef Koudelka; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts,
Harvard University
1988 Josef Koudelka; International Center of Photography,
New York
1988 Josef Koudelka, Exil; Centre cultural franc ̧ ais, Berlin
Ost
1991 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; San Francisco
1991 Josef Koudelka, Mission Photographique Transmanche;
New Mosque, Thessalonica, Greece
1992 Villa Medici, Rome
1995 Gitanos; Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City
1996 Periplanissis, Following Ulysses’ Gaze; Zapeion Mega-
ron, Athens
1996 The Black Triangle; Stenersen Museum, Oslo
1998 Josef Koudelka: Transmissions from Behind the Iron Cur-
tain: Theatre Photography 1964–1970/Invasion 1968;Lyt-
tleton Circle Foyer, Royal National Theatre, LondonKOUDELKA, JOSEF