A novel X-ray diffraction method, allowing the position resolved imaging of a polycrystalline specimen using the diffracted radiation, was applied for in situ investigation of recrystallization of cold-rolled copper. A large area of the specimen could be observed simultaneously, yielding information about nucleation and growth of many individual crystallites. The recrystallization process showed a stochastic behavior which can be described by the model of self-organized criticality.