Gerd Ludwig

Steve Fairclough speaks to one of the world's leading documentary photographers about his life and work

Gerd Ludwig may not be a name that immediately trips off the tongue when you're thinking about the world's greatest photographers, but if you haven't yet seen his work, then you've been missing out on something very special.

Ludwig was born in Germany just two years after the end of World War II, and a certain sense of guilt his father was part of the German forces that invaded Russia in 1942 - helped to shape his future approach to his work. Early on, he abandoned plans to shoot fashion for a career after seeing photography from the Vietnam War, which ultimately led to him deciding to become a photojournalist.

He is arguably best known for documenting life in Russia, especially the aftermath of the 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. He first shot the area for a National Geographic assignment in 1993, and has returned several times since, notably being one of the world's first documentary photographers to further his work thanks to crowdfunding. His ongoing coverage of post-Soviet Russia has earned him the distinction of being the world's foremost colour photographer documenting the region.

Ludwig's work is known for capturing all of the complexities life has to offer with a potent combination of empathy, emotion and hard-hitting photojournalism. He's just as likely to capture the sweetness of a hug and a kiss or the poignancy of children born with serious birth defects. His images combine very strong composition, socioeconomic content and a journalistic style that marks them out as purposeful and highly memorable.