Josef Koudelka Could Locate Beauty Anywhere
Koudelka’s personal uniform featured sturdy workman’s shoes. “I wake up,” Koudelka said, at Pace. “I walk all day. Every year a new pair of shoes.” He was a lithe, muscular man who could cook and wash his clothes anywhere, mend any hole or tear, and remain agile with multiple cameras dangling from his neck. He favored thick military-style olive-green shirts with deep, secure pockets where his passport and his cash could be held close to his self-sufficient heart.Only once was the system breached by thieves. “At least twenty years ago,” Koudelka recalled. He refuses to say where it happened. “I try to forget about it. I was photographing for a month and a half, and it was raining all the time. I was sleeping outside. One day I lost everything. I accepted it. The only way you can get rid of...
