Ireland
- Artist: Josef Koudelka
- Date: 1976
- Medium: Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
- Dimensions: image: 506 × 357 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the "Ireland" by Josef Koudelka. The image is a black‑and‑white gelatin‑silver print, a slice of his 1976 Exiles series. Koudelka left Czechoslovakia in 1970, seeking asylum in Britain, and then set off to photograph the margins of Europe. In this shot he places four middle‑aged men, wrapped in heavy coats and hats, back to the camera in a narrow alley. The concrete walls are topped with barbed wire, hinting at confinement, while one might imagine a private act of defiance in that bleak space. Their isolation speaks to the broader theme of exile—being physically present in a land yet emotionally and socially on the fringe. The stark lighting and grainy texture sharpen that feeling of raw, unfiltered existence. Through this quiet, almost cinematic frame, Koudelka reminds us that exile is not just about leaving one’s homeland; it’s also about the perpetual search for belonging in a world that often feels unwelcoming.
See it in person
Ireland is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
