Essay on Koudelka s exhibition using Res ndiz s Theory
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Thesis:
The photograph is a symbol which represents the transcending shadows of the gypsies.
About Josef Koudelka:
Josef Koudelka is known for his highly formalized, sensitive images of the vestiges of gypsy life. Since 1962 he has traveled and extensively documented gypsies in Eastern Europe, England, Ireland, France, and Spain. Entirely independent, constantly on the move like the people he photographs, Koudelka has never accepted magazine or commercial assignments. He has worked for many years without a permanent darkroom, amassing a large backlog of images he has yet to print. His work has focused consistently on the community rituals of everyday life, birth, marriage, and death (Busselle, 1984). Koudelka's Gypsies takes us through the remote communities and rituals of Eastern Slovakian Gypsies. In the exhibition, one of photography's greatest functions, preserving for posterity threatened ways of life, is exercised. The pictures within are certainly stunning, but arguably Koudelka's compositional prowess and desire to seek drama end up burying the monotonous ordinariness of daily life (Rodriguez, 2003).
Historical Context:
Hitler exterminated 500,000 Gypsies in WWII...