© Josef Koudelka/Magnum Photos

In 1968, Josef Koudelka was thirty years old. He had committed himself to photography as a full-time career only recently, and had been chronicling the theater and the lives of gypsies, but he had never photographed a news event. That all changed on the night of August 21, when Warsaw Pact tanks invaded the city of Prague, ending the short-lived political freedom in Czechoslovakia that came to be known as the “Prague Spring.” In the midst of the turmoil of the Soviet-led invasion, Koudelka took to the streets to document this critical moment. It was a major turning point in his life

The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography in Moscow, Russia, present the exhibition of the legendary Czech photographer Josef Koudelka—“Invasion 68 Prague”—a series that not only embodies a key period of Czech history, but also has become recognized as a classic example of the photo-documentary genre. Forty years later, these photographs, which have been seen around the world, will be shown in Moscow. This is the most famous series of images by Josef Koudelka in history of photo reportage.

Koudelka’s photographs of the invasion were miraculously smuggled out of the country. A year after they reached New York, Magnum Photos distributed the images, but credited them to an unknown Czech photographer to avoid reprisals. The intensity and significance of the images earned the still-anonymous photographer the Robert Capa Award. Sixteen years passed before Koudelka could safely acknowledge authorship.

The exhibition, Invasion 68 Prague, is comprised of images personally selected by Josef Koudelka from his extensive archive, and is co-produced with Magnum Photos. Conceived as an installation, it features large-scale, ink-jet prints as well as related texts.

In August 2008, Aperture published a monograph of the same title on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the invasion.

This exhibition is made possible, in part, by generous support from Mark and Elizabeth Levine. Additional support provided by HP and Coloredge.

Exhibition on view:
Thursday, October 7–Sunday, December 4, 2011

The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography
Marsh embankment, 3, p. 1
Moscow, Russia
(495) 228-98-78

Click here for full traveling exhibition details regarding Invasion 68 Prague.

As part of Memorial del 68, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico presents Invasion 68 Prague, an exhibition of Josef Koudelka‘s remarkable work made during that one historic week in August 1968. In the midst of the turmoil of the Soviet-led invasion, which ended the short-lived political freedom in Czechoslovakia that came to be known as the Prague Spring, Koudelka took to the streets to document this critical moment. His powerful photographs reached Magnum Photos in New York and earned the still-anonymous photographer the Robert Capa Award. This successful exhibition, coproduced by Aperture and Magnum Photos, has traveled to New York and Washington, D.C., before arriving in Mexico. Many of the images featured in large-scale prints and grids have never been seen before; compelling texts by Czech historians complete the exhibition. All images and texts are taken from Koudelka’s stunning Aperture monograph of the same name, which includes 250 photographs chosen by the artist from his archive.

Exhibition on view:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 –Friday, July 31, 2009

Invasion 68 Prague
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,
Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco, Memorial del 68
Ricardo Flores Magon No.1
Col. Nonoalco Tlatelolco
Mexico City, Mexico
(+52) 55 83 09 60

Click here to buy your copy of Josef Koudelka’s monograph Invasion 68: Prague through Aperture.

Don’t miss your chance to see Invasion 68 Prague: Josef Koudelka on view at the Katzen Arts Center, American University Museum through December 28, 2008. This exhibition marks the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Prague and is presented by Aperture and Magnum.

These remarkable works made during that one historic week were smuggled into the United States, and are what earned Koudelka a prestigious Robert Capa Award, which he accepted anonymously.

According to The Washington Post:

“In his Prague pictures, he [Koudelka] mined the visual language of the Renaissance and romanticism to reframe that week-long struggle into a battle worthy of the ages. At the Katzen, several key images stretch five feet high, their scale amplifying their majesty.”

Admired for their almost biblical formal qualities, these emotionally charged black and white photographs showcase an incredibly tumultuous moment in history.

Invasion 68 Prague: Josef Koudelka

Exhibition on View:
Thursday, November 13, 2008 –Sunday, December 28, 2008

American University Museum
Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
(202) 855-1300

FREE

View and buy the Aperture book here for 30% off.

Today marks the fortieth anniversary that the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia, writer Kate Taylor reports in Everything Unbelievable Was Possible in The New York Sun on the forthcoming exhibition of photographs made by Josef Koudelka during this one historic week titled, Invasion 68 Prague.

In 1968, Koudelka was a young photographer chronicling the theater, and the lives of gypsies, but he had never photographed a news event. That all changed on the night of August 21, when Warsaw Pact tanks invaded the city of Prague, ending the short-lived political freedom in Czechoslovakia that came to be known as the Prague Spring. In the midst of the turmoil of the Soviet-led invasion, Koudelka took to the streets to document this critical moment. These powerful photographs anonymously reached Magnum Photos in New York and earned the Robert Capa award.

Don’t miss the opening reception on Thursday, September 4th, 6:00-8:00 p.m. with the artist!