On Heading Home

“What I needed most was to travel so that I could take photographs.” - Josef Koudelka

Whether it is the required commute to work, a spontaneous pursuit of curiosity, or an adventure to a foreign land on vacation, traveling is an essential part of human existence. For Czech photographer Josef Koudelka, traveling is one of the most important factors in creating the unique, engaging, and diverse bodies of work he has amassed over his 40+ year career. With a sleeping bag and a couple of pairs of clothes in tow, Koudelka has photographed the culture of the Romani population, the wide variety of exiles all over Europe and the United States, and the damaged, dismal landscapes of The Black Triangle at Czechia’s border.

Upon arriving in Prague, I immediately realized how large of a role traveling, especially by Prague’s public transportation methods, was to play in getting myself to various classrooms, studios, and museums. Used by a large majority of the population of Prague, these buses, trams, metros, and trains subject their riders to an infinite amount of unique experiences, and I quickly became fascinated with the conscious and unconscious interactions that occurred between me, other strangers, and the environments that we shared at the intersections of the many journeys that comprise our lives.

In the spirit of Josef Koudelka, travel was essential in creating the photographs in this series. The subjects vary from the aesthetic elements found in and around these modes of transportation, to the more concrete contexts of my many trips throughout the city. Individually, they each carry their own significance. However, when the individual photographs are viewed together, like passengers crammed into a metro, they interact in a different light, suggesting narratives that don’t actually exist.