Josef Koudelka, born in Czechoslovakia in 1938, is a Magnum photographer. He used to work as an aeronautical engineer and also take photograph stage performances for theater magazines at the same time. Later Josef gave up his engineer career and focused on photography when he was 29. Josef is well known by his photos of Gypsies and also the Invasion of Czechoslovakia. The negatives shot in Prague were smuggled out and soon became to symbols of this invasion. Koudelka won the award of Robert Capa Gold Medal as a “anonymous Czech photographer” in 1969. However, he also had to fled to England and apply for political asylum because these photos.

Josef Koudelka is a very unique photographer. Most times he refused to explain his photos. He believes that a photograph should talk by itself. In an interview in 2013, Koudelka said that he got knowledge by looking. He thought everyone can come to some conclusion if they observe sufficiently and spend enough time. He is willing to talk in interviews now because he had got the conclusions.

The way Koudelka taking photos had shaped by his early experience photographing stage performance. By shooting the same actors regularly, Josef was able to explore every possibility. This habit continues in his later projects like Gypsies. Instead of learning the places ahead, Koudelka got knowledge about the people and places by viewing through his lens and visiting there again and again. By deeply involved in the life of his subjects, Koudelka was able to express real emotions in his images.

Editing our own photos could be very difficult because we are likely get emotionally attached to our photos. Koudelka has a special way to select his best work. He usually printed them in small photos and hanging them on the and live with them so that after a long time he could take out the less favorite ones.

Moreover, he is confident about what he is doing and did not care about what other people’s thought. “I refuse to become a slave to their ideas.” Josef once said. Koudelka disdained to sell his photo and primarily took photos for himself even after joining in the Magnum.