The 'Bouncing Czech' Photographer

Antonin Kratochvil spent his early childhood in a labor camp, fled the grip of Communism in the Czech Republic as a teen, then wandered Europe ending up in the French Legion—fleeing once more. It's no wonder, Daily Beast contributor Eliza Griswold says in September's Outside magazine, that Kratochvil has become one of the world's best photojournalists, a profession that depends on intuition and instinct. "I empathize with people who are being f--ked," he says. "When I photograph them, I am photographing myself." His subjects have been as heavy as they are many: Chernobyl, Sierra Leone, the Niger Delta, Pakistan after Benazir Bhutto's assassination, Darfur, Iraq, and Afghanistan. How does he face such trauma? "Since I was little in refugee camps, I've seen people hang themselves," he says. "I don't close my eyes."