What Diaries by Josef Koudelka Taught Me About Photography

Recently, I bought the book Diaries by Josef Koudelka. Koudelka is one of the most renowned photographers, a member of Magnum Photos and a friend of Henri Cartier Bresson. He became famous for his photographs of Roma people, but also for his unconventional way of life.

This is described in considerable detail in the book, which is a transcription and translation of the diaries he kept throughout his life and during his years as a photographer. Koudelka left then Czechoslovakia, where he was born, at the age of 32 and, for political reasons, did not return for more than 20 years.

Koudelka chose not to have a home. He slept wherever he could, on streets, lawns, in fields, under bridges, or as a guest in someone’s home. He believed that becoming attached to material possessions or to a home would cause him to lose his freedom. He owned almost nothing except the essentials he could carry on his back.

His passion was photography, and he devoted literally his entire life to it. If you imagine a monk who has completely devoted himself to his order, who owns almost nothing and dedicates his entire life to something greater than himself, then Koudelka was and, in many ways, still is that kind of monk of photography.

He believed he should never fall in love, start a family, or settle down because photography was always supposed to come first.

He also had many observations and thoughts about photography, and I’ve included some of his quotes below.

“To take good color is harder than black and white”

“Don’t want more than you absolutely need. Don’t be a slave to things”

“Do things properly by your terms”

“It is difficult to photograph mental aspect”

“Do big stories, not hopping around”

“You need a camera around your neck all the time”

“Try everything as a photographer”

“Keep a diary”

“Show that you have feelings, not that you can take photographs”

“A book must be a demonstration of an opinion about life, an opinion about photographs”

“If you want to do something extraordinary, you have to have extraordinary conditions”

“When you have nothing, you are able to find joy in everything”

“Force yourself to go out as much as you can!”

“Discipline”

“Don’t be lazy - people are too lazy to learn it properly”

“All the details in the background are important”

“Always test yourself”

“Creating your own vision - what you are interested in”

“Take bad photos”

“I am director of a play but they don’t know they are actors”

“Find a character to photograph”

“You are interested in the complicated composition of photographs”

“Immediately crop everything that isn’t important”

“For me making photographs is part of my life, like breathing, walking; it is watching…”

“A good picture = miracle”

“You must learn to wait”

“You have to believe in quality”

“Every photographer takes bad photographs. It’s in the nature of photography, that next to the best frame there’s a bad one or worse one.”

“Don’t own anything, don’t buy anything. Don’t be a materialist.

There are so many powerful quotes in the book that could be applied to our own lives. I strongly recommend reading it slowly, in small parts, and taking the time to really absorb it.

Koudelka is a photographer who cannot be copied. Through his completely different way of life, constantly wandering the world with a camera around his neck, he shows us what true dedication to something we feel called to really looks like.

When you look at the biographies of other photographers, you can notice a certain recurring pattern. Photography is, in many ways, a solitary pursuit. It requires complete concentration and spending countless hours outside, observing, walking, and looking. The amount of time spent searching for photographs is enormous.

I recommend Diaries to anyone who wants to motivate themselves to photograph every day, to explore, to look for new frames, but perhaps most of all because the book leaves us with an undeniable feeling that we want and have too much.

Perhaps Koudelka took his approach to an extreme, but there is a lot of truth in his behavior and his views. If we become slaves to our possessions, if we become attached to things, fame, and money, we will ultimately do so at the expense of art.

If you enjoy my work, you can support me on Buy Me Coffee! I’m a small artist based in San Francisco, capturing the city through photography, and when I’m not behind the camera, I’m a middle school teacher. Every coffee helps me keep creating and sharing the city in a new light.

Maybe consider upgrading your subscription or visiting my Etsy store or my website to order a print

Thank you.

Beata