Gypsies (Czech: Cikáni) by Josef Koudelka was photographed primarily between 1962 and 1971 across Roma communities in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, France, and Spain. The project centers on daily life, tradition, and resilience among Europe's marginalized Romani populations.
Against the backdrop of postwar assimilation campaigns and systematic discrimination in Eastern Europe, Koudelka’s work emerged as a counter-narrative to dominant stereotypes. In Czechoslovakia, Roma communities faced enforced settlement policies, loss of mobility, and dispersal schemes that threatened to erase their cultural identity. In this climate, Gypsies offered a visual testimony that contradicted state rhetoric and public prejudice, elevating Romani life through intimate and empathetic portrayal.
Visually, Gypsies is rendered in high-contrast black and white, with compositions marked by precise framing and dramatic tonal range. The photographs are often shot in confined domestic spaces or open rural settings, emphasizing strong figure-to-ground relationships. Subjects are often centrally posed or caught in symbolic gestures, their presence amplified by Koudelka’s use of light and shadow to delineate emotion and space. The mood oscillates between somber introspection and moments of celebration.
Technically speaking, Koudelka relied on a 35mm camera with a 25mm wide-angle lens—a rare acquisition in 1963—which allowed him to photograph in tight interiors and accentuate spatial relationships. He pushed East German 400 ASA movie film to extreme exposures, developing it in hot solutions to achieve dense negatives and pronounced contrast. His rigorous approach to composition and iterative working process, honed through years of theater photography, contributed to the project's striking aesthetic.
Presented first in Prague (1967), Gypsies reached a broader public through MoMA (1975) and the Aperture/Delpire book (1975/1977), awarded the Prix Nadar (1978). Aperture’s expanded 2011 edition, echoing the 1968 maquette, supported ongoing reassessment in exhibitions and publications.
