For almost six decades, Czech photographer Josef Koudelka has been documenting the extremes of human life, whether it be his years spent photographing Gypsies in Slovakia and Romania, or settling in with groups in rural and isolated places, documenting their rituals, festivals, traditions and lifestyles.

His enormous body of work has been massively influential on the world of photography. From highly esteemed professionals, to street photographers, to (whether they realise it or not) that annoying mate of yours with an old film camera who won’t stop snapping candids of you on a night out.

Koudelka was born in 1938 in the small Moravian town of Boscovich, Czechoslovakia. He began photographing his family, friends and surroundings with a battered old plastic Bakelite camera. He showed promise as a photographer, but went on to study aeronautical engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague between 1956 and 1961.