Josef Koudelka - Koudelka Industries - 2017

In 1986, he begins to use a panoramic-format camera and takes part in the DATAR photographic mission, whose objective is to 'represent the French landscape of the 1980s'. He then travels across France, and then the entire world, to document the influence of the modern man on the landscape. The book is composed of forty panoramic photographs chosen by the artist and François Hébel among the most emblematic of this theme. These images, taken on all continents, testify to major human works, ranging from factories to quarries, including enormous mining complexes and abandoned areas. The photographs transport the reader to inaccessible and little-known zones, between desolation and curiosity, to convey the imposing reality of industry. Building on this photographic aesthetic characteristic of Koudelka's work, this selection presents an imposing body of work in black and white. The publication appears on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at the Foto/Industria festival in Bologna, an international photography biennial founded in 2013, where exhibitions occupy the city for nearly three months.