Koudelka is possibly the single greatest influence on me as a photographer. I was shown his work by photographer and old friend of my fathers, Dick Swayne. I immediately fell in love with his work and, through the glimpses of his personality that shone through the images, with Koudelka himself and the lifestyle he led. What I saw helped me to understand where my own visions were coming from, where they lived within me and what I would need to do to set them free.
His images were raw and grainy and broke rules. Their composition was natural, yet they played with your eye. And they were taken by someone who seemed to live the life he photographed. He was there, amongst the tanks, he was a traveller sleeping in the fields, a nomad, an exile and a gypsy in spirit.
To me Koudelka and his work seemed to be everything I wanted to be as a teenager, both as a photographer and a person.
The best place to view Koudelka’s work is on the Magnum Website as he does not have a personal site.
May 18, 2017
February 27, 2017
November 11, 2016
December 3, 2013
February 21, 2013
January 22, 2013
November 1, 2012
August 6, 2010
July 8, 2010
June 19, 2010
June 15, 2010
June 10, 2010
May 23, 2010
May 18, 2010
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February 1, 2010
December 27, 2009
December 9, 2009