ABOUT

One of the seminal photoessays of the 20th Century, Magnum photographer Josef Koudelka’s Gypsies offers an unparalleled insight into the everyday lives of Europe’s Roma communities. Carrying only his equipment, a rucksack and sleeping bag, Koudelka moved freely between different villages and encampments during the Sixties and early Seventies, sleeping outside and spending his days immersed in recording the individuals he encountered. Akin to the communities he was photographing, Koudelka’s life during this period was characterized by displacement and alienation. It was undoubtedly his affinity with these people’s way of life that both drove him to photograph them and enabled Koudelka to capture the intimacies and intricacies of their existence to such an unprecedented degree.