Josef Koudelka, a nomad at heart has wandered around Europe with his 35mm Leica and little else. He was born in the Czech Republic, and made his first photographs there while a student in the 1950s. In the 196os he lived with and photographed the Gypsies of Slovakia, and later Romania, photographing them with an intimacy only gained through their total acceptance of him as one of their own. He returned to Czechoslovakia just two days before the Soviet invasion in August of 1968. He witnessed and recorded the military forces as they invaded Prague. Koudelka’s negatives were smuggled out of Prague into the hands of the Magnum agency, and were published anonymously under the initials P. P. (Prague Photographer) for fear of reprisal to him and his family. His pictures of the events became dramatic international symbols, and in 1969 the “anonymous Czech photographer” was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal for photographs requiring exceptional courage. Koudelka left Czechoslovakia for political asylum in 1970 and shortly thereafter joined The Magnum Agency. He remains an ever elusive figure who rarely attends events or signings, preferring to remain as he has always been… perpetually in motion.

Description: INSCRIBED & SIGNED BY JOSEF KOUDELKA on the title page ” to Jonas from Josef Koudelka”. Hard bound first printing with dust jacket. Koudelka’s first book, the work that sealed Koudelka’s reputation featuring 60 powerful black-and-white photogravure plates. This is the French edition of the book published simultaneously by Aperture under the title “Gypsies “. Foreword by Robert Delpire, and text by Willy Guy. Translated to French by Diane de Margerie. Some wear to corners and edges of dust jacket, and one small closed tear, otherwise very good. Interior clean and binding tight.

Bookseller Inventory # 25015

$1500

Gitans La Fin Du Voyage (Gypsies)
Koudelka, Josef

English Title: Gypsies; The Journey’s End
Publisher: Delpire Editeur
Publication Date: 1975
Edition: First French edition
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition:   Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)

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