Portrait of Humanity

x Ollie Walker - Cape Town, South Africa

In the wake of the pandemic it’s become apparent how important public spaces are to us as individuals and to society as a whole. This is especially true for South Africans, given our segregated history. The Sea Point Promenade, once a whites-only public amenity, now thrives with all walks of life, celebrating the incredible change and progression our society has made.

x Nirish Shakya - Butwal, Nepal

These images are from my ongoing series titled 'Going Back Home'. I'm visiting my family and relatives in Nepal for the first time since the pandemic started. This visit has been different to my usual past ones. So many of my relatives are not here anymore due to COVID. Many of my nieces and nephews have grown much taller. I'm using these images to capture the change I'm experiencing. It was the first day of school for my little niece in the school that her big sister goes to. She was proudly parading her new uniform with her big sister.

x Nirish Shakya - Valencia, Spain

My friends and I went to a nudist beach in Valencia one evening. After a quick dip Alberto started shivering, so Alona put her arms around him to keep him warm.

x Mary Beth Meehan - Newnan, Georgia, USA

This was taken at a Cotillion ball, a Southern tradition and the culmination of weeks of etiquette and dance training. Out of more than 60 fifth-graders at the ball, Ariel was one of two Black children.

x Carlo Lombardi & Miriam Stanke - Riga, Latvia

‘Sometimes the best thing you can do is to go out, breathe fresh air and connect with nature. We are simple creatures with simple needs, we just make it very complicated for ourselves.’

x Lukas Göbel - Zandvoort, The Netherlands

Willemien and her dog Pippa are inseparable. This was taken just after Willemien had taken a dip at this naturist beach. She is a committed advocate of the rights of refugees and the LGBTQ+ community.

x Steve Dean Mendes - Erembodegem, Belgium

By not retouching my images or using makeup, only natural light in the studio, I create a safe environment, initiating a process of removing all masks. I want to capture raw and unaltered emotion.

x Angelika Kollin - Cape Town, South Africa

Emanuele and his wife are struggling to survive in one of numerous townships. Against all odds, he is not giving up; he believes, knows, that his daughter and her generation will have a better life.

x Angelika Kollin - Cape Town, South Africa

This documents 75-year-old Katinka Hall’s battle with cancer. While hope was rapidly fading, the peaceful calm of acceptance and surrender was growing. She knew that life has given her a great gift: to understand how precious and ephemeral our time here is, and to be able to spend what she had left with people and activities that truly mattered. Katinka passed away a year after this was taken.

x Helena Lea Manhartsberger and Laila Sieber - Chernivtsi, Ukraine

Sasha, who is trans, and his girlfriend Sofia fled Odessa to an LGBTQ+ shelter in Chernivtsi. Sasha says: ‘I actually want to fight, but Sofia won’t allow me, she is too afraid of losing me. It’s also difficult to join the army as a trans man, because trans people in Ukraine are considered mentally ill and are therefore labelled unfit.’

x Sane Seven - London, UK

‘I think there’s pressure to wear a wig to fit in, as this is perhaps easier than explaining why I have no hair. I’d like to see less judgement and more freedom for people to embrace hair loss in their own way without fearing the reaction of others.’

x Sane Seven - Liverpool, UK

‘It is simple to compare ourselves to others because what we seek is approval, which makes us feel good. Instead, I’ve come to realise that the real struggle is learning to accept yourself for who you are... One thing we all have in common, with vitiligo and without it, is that everyone is worthy of love and support.’

x Elisabeth Hoff - London, UK

Born during the war in Sudan, Hakima was raised in a Kenyan refugee camp and forced into child marriage at 15. Then a friend sent her picture to a model agent and she was signed up immediately: ‘Sometimes the hardships we face strengthen us. Before, I was afraid to believe. When I look at pictures of myself now I can see what others see. I am unique. I now believe.’

x Nahwand Jaff - London, UK

Over lockdowns Clive and I would meet in this same spot to work out and talk about life, and others began to join us. The space has remained a hub on the estate.

x Zeinab Salarvand - Tehran, Iran

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x Jon Enoch - Mumbai, India

Pappu Jaiswal is a candyfloss seller. He told me, ‘I work every day on the beach, in the city if the weather is bad or at night.’ There is competition between the sellers, and the streets are very full, so having a bit of height to your display helps attract the buyers.

x Lucia Jost - Berlin, Germany

We grew up together, became women together. My friends don’t like to be photographed, but this is the first picture the four of them all like equally.

x Wilhelm Philipp - Bentleigh, Victoria, Australia

This is Dev, sporting head injuries sustained from a late-night skateboarding accident. It’s from a series documenting his recovery.

x Wayne Hanson - London, UK

Dame Vivienne Westwood picks up the Game Changer Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2022. She said: ‘Couture is the only sustainable fashion. My answer is to buy less, choose well, make it last.’

x Verity Fitzgerald - Cape Town, South Africa

Zana is local South African model. I was photographing her in the shallows of the tidal pool when she suddenly erupted into joyous laughter. She realised she was floating, which for Zana who can't swim, was a sensation she had never experienced before.

x Richard Chambury - London, UK

Wanstead Mobile Flying Club meet regularly to fly their own built aircraft. David Marquis spoke of the community their club brings them, not to mention the fresh air.

x Hugh Fox - Lightness of Being

Artist Darvsh Fakhr, shown here on the wall, provides a gentle reminder that we can slow down and connect with ourselves and our environment, allowing for spontaneous creativity and play.

x Frederic Aranda - Manchester, UK

Footballer and child-poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford, standing where it all began for him – his old primary school pitch. He said, ‘I always talk about “protecting the future”. In this generation, if we learn to protect the young kids, the young kids will do the same in the next generation, and that’s how you make change for a long period of time.’

x Emma Collins - Bourgogne- Franche-Comté, France

My children are at a juncture in their sibling relationship. My older daughter is moving towards the thrill of teenage freedom, while my younger daughter feels a real sense of grief at being left behind. I see this changing dynamic here, my youngest visibly and metaphorically holding on to her sister.

x Mark Rammers - Batiaghata, Bangladesh

The continuous growth of urban areas has led to more and more brick factories popping up all across the country. This man had been working for eight hours in sweltering heat while following the fasting rules of Ramadan.

x Anjula Schaub - West Coast of Scotland, UK

The pandemic meant that I didn’t travel to see my parents for over two years. When I finally did I saw they’d found another life - retired, by the sea, calmer, healthier, happier.

x Sergei Stroitelev - Moscow, Russia

‘I was diagnosed recently – at the end of March last year. There wasn’t much fear, I am a very calm person. To be honest, I still don’t understand whether I’ve accepted my new body or not. After the operation, chemotherapy began – it affected my skin a lot. I also knew that my hair would fall out so I shaved it off and bought a wig. The disease changes you. I began to notice life around me, value very simple things.’

x Hannah Norton - London, UK

I met Marie when I started volunteering with the Tottenham Community Cook Up. There are currently millions of people like her experiencing food insecurity in the UK, and thousands of food banks helping them survive.

x Sylvia Gutiérrez Sánchez - Heredia, Costa Rica

In the last few years of her life my grandmother wouldn’t allow me to take photos of her. On my last trip before her death, she said I could photograph her however I wanted. It was a kind of a farewell.

x Gaynor Shaw - Shigar, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

My husband and I met this man while travelling through a remote village in Northern Pakistan. He’s wearing the local topi or pakol (hat), and carrying his child with a dupatta (shawl). With the mountains in the background, the scene feels timeless.

x Brian Cassey - Cairns, Australia

As a Black Colorado-born African American and now Australian resident, Aurora Coulter is acutely aware of her own heritage and the history of Australia’s indigenous population since ‘settlement’.

x Constanza Miranda - Santiago, Chile

Ariel is transitioning from male to female and José from female to male, producing a unique and intimate common space. They are both moving forward together into the unknown. Ariel says their concerns include, ‘Are you still the same person? What appears and what disappears? Is there death in the transit?’

x Andris Dzeguze - Dzhankoy, Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine

My father hadn’t spoken to his brother since a disagreement following their mother’s death eight years ago. We all met and walked around the neighbourhood where they grew up. My dad said, ‘Feeling warmth and love through remembering the old times in a brighter light can heal the wounds and repair relationships.’

x Jonah Reenders - San Francisco, California, USA

I saw this couple sharing a pint of whisky on a rare rainy and cold day. I was drawn to their intimacy.

x Stephanie Diani - Paris, France

Roshni had to delay her plans to go to Paris to begin her modelling career because of the pandemic; two years later, after having lost her father to Covid, we met in the Luxembourg Gardens.

x Stephanie Diani - Santa Barbara, California, USA

My parents have been married for 65 years. My dad had just turned 90 when this photo was taken; he has dementia and my mother is his caretaker.

x Cameron McNee - London, UK

Lady Francesca, part of a collective of drag kings and queens with Down syndrome, is a stickler for manners – she insisted my every request included a please and a thank you. She told me, ‘The whole Drag Syndrome team is like a family. We have a lot of fun.’

x Cameron McNee - London, UK

Part of a collective of drag queens and kings with Down syndrome, Justin has that rare charisma of a superstar: ‘For me, it’s about survival. I can’t live without drag,’ he says.

x Zuzanna Szamocka - Undisclosed location, Poland

Katarzyna Herman on the set of the film Summer in Nohant. I caught her during her break, and liked the dissonance between the 19th-century costume and the modern RV. She wore a period costume with such ease, as if she was wearing a tracksuit.

x Nyla Sammons - London, UK

A West African musician, dancer, storyteller and teacher. I love hearing him play the djembe and teaching students in the nearby green spaces.

x Aneesa Dawoojee - London, UK

After a four-vehicle accident that left him as an amputee, James decided he wanted to live. A year before the accident, he had tried to take his own life. I met him at a fight show, where he fought an able-bodied man.

x Tero Puha - Perniö, Finland

Jukka is a well-known Finnish sculptor. He is currently renovating an old villa in Perniö, and I took the portrait when the evening light was coming through the small window in the sauna building.

x Nina Raingold - Sofia, Bulgaria

Despite only seeing each other twice a year, Sofia and Greta have a great bond. Greta gets so much joy out of just watching and observing her great granddaughter.

x Zoe Savitz - London, UK

‘I swim because I’m slightly addicted to the feeling – I’ve always been tempted by cold water and have now found my swimming crew.’

x Steve Bright - Thare, Nepal

I met this elderly lady as she tended her yaks. Her weather-beaten features told of a hard life out in the unforgiving elements of the Himalayas, but her strength and character shone through and she carried herself with pride and poise.

x Franklin Yeep - New York City, New York, USA

Baroque Barbie is a cellist who dresses like Marie Antoinette. She aims to perform in all the subway stations in the city.

x Amrita Chandradas - East Coast Park, Singapore

Ruby Jayaseelan is wearing a veshti, the white cloth wrap usually only worn by men in the Tamil community. White symbolises purity, but also the death of women’s identities, as our lives are greatly controlled by the patriarchy.

x Marcos Zegers - SQM Lithium Processing Plant, Atacama Desert, Chile

Elisa Estrella Muñoz works in the lithium plant. The demand for this mineral has risen at a faster rate than they can assimilate, and raises questions about the social and environmental cost of these transformations.

x CJ Benninger - Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA

Nitin is one of my daughter’s classmates. After being in virtual school together during the pandemic, we found out he and his family actually lived in our neighbourhood.

x CJ Benninger - Detroit, Michigan, USA

A self-taught artist, Davariz’s work highlights the importance of love and beauty within the Black community as well as the Black experience.

x CJ Benninger - Detroit, Michigan, USA

Cara is an artist whose work is about issues of race in the American landscape and the reality of life in her own skin.

x Kevin Prodin - Republic of Maldives

Ibrahim is a dive master on the live-aboard dive boat Seaisee. It was easy to live in the moment whenever I was around him. I wanted to capture the feeling of being under water: the freedom, the weightlessness, almost like the ability to fly.

x Laurentina Miksys - Lithuania

Every seven years we totally change, both physically and spiritually. I wanted to explore spiritual freedom through connection, turning my camera on those closest – my family becoming a conduit of poetic metaphor.

x Laura Pannack - Undisclosed location, Germany

I find solace in remembering that what we leave behind are the stories we tell. By immersing myself in each region and culture I visit, I bring a new account.

x Sergei Stroitelev - Saint Petersburg, Russia

‘I felt a lump in my chest in 2012. Then the ground disappeared under my feet. I didn’t think that at the age of 29 this could happen to me. After the operation I could not look calmly in the mirror, and still do not do it very often. I really want to believe that there will be years of remission and I will see how my daughter grows up. I am setting myself up for old age.’

x Kirti Virmani - Karnal, Haryana, India

Mr Kulwant Singh Ji and Mrs Paramjeet Kaur Ji have been happily married for 30 years. They have a beautiful ritual of colour coordinating their outfits for any outing.

x Malcolm Hutcheson - Lahore, Pakistan

Scattered around the poorer districts of the city are members of the transgender community. Forced by society’s prejudices to live on the margins of society, their lives are often under threat from violence in an increasingly intolerant society.

x Olivier Lavenac - Villeurbanne, Lyon, France

The class was asked to close their eyes and visualise something: most found it difficult to relax, but Nyalwal didn’t think twice, she closed her eyes and left this world.

x Inga Marchuk - Mykolaiv, Ukraine

This is the last picture I took in Ukraine before the war started, shortly after which I left my homeland. The family is now in a safe place.

x Vikram Kushwah - Undisclosed location, India

This is the first ever photo I took of my mother. I wanted to photograph her how she spends most of her time – foraging. She is an eco-warrior of sorts, and Bhoori is her constant companion.

x Vikram Kushwah - Undisclosed location, India

It is common in big Indian families for older siblings to take care of the younger ones. Often one sees girls in these motherly roles, so seeing the tender relationship between these two brothers was special.

x Robert Huggins - London, UK

Roger stood out in the crowd at a Windrush Caribbean celebration event. He is a campaigning politician, an independent candidate who has run for mayoral office in a London borough.

x Malin Westermann - Oslo, Norway

Jacob with his son Gabriel, after spending ten days at the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). He was overwhelmed, but glad that he could soon bring his son home.

x Karoliina Kase - Undisclosed location, Australia

This wallaby fell and her joey died inside her pouch. This sanctuary is one of few taking in mature wildlife, which are difficult to rehabilitate.

x Johan Franzén - Linköping, Sweden

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x Bùi Phú Khánh - Viet Yên, Bac Giang Province, Vietnam

This is a 100-year-old festival held to worship the Sun god, remember the saints, and protect people. Two teams compete to demonstrate the battle between good and evil.

x Luke Kraman - San Francisco, California, USA

Josh is a designer working within the queer community who creates digital mental-health tools for queer youth.

x Daga Dygas - Dnipro, Ukraine

After dinner you may as well sit at the table a little longer. Transported. From home in the very eastern part of the country, to an adapted church a little further west. Nothing to do, nowhere to go.

x Daniel Aros-Aguilar - Valle de Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico

Mario is a non-binary person that does not claim to be Muxe. Since Mario was not born in Juchitan but the Valley of Tlacolula. When I approached Mario about this portrait, they wanted to wear the traditional garments of the Valley, along with their tlacoyales. Tlacoyales are woven garments that are incorporated into their braids. They're traditionally little balls woven and naturally dyed by artisans who have passed down these skills for generations. Mario is also a renowned chef in Oaxaca and a self-made experience guide for the state. This portrait was exhibited as part of the En Foco 2022 Fellowship in the Bronx, New York City.

x Kevin O’Farrell - Heir Island, West Cork, Ireland

Heir Islands Danny Murphy's funeral heading down the Ilen river on his last voyage to Heir Island and Cunnamore. Islanders share isolation and risk in their everyday lives, and a common understanding of bad weather, tides, and the changing seasons. The unspoken bond becomes evident when a tragedy happens.

x Simon Murphy - Glasgow, UK

‘Voguing is a language that actually makes sense to me... through movement I have found ways to say what words can’t.’

x Charlie Clift - Cambridge, UK

Most economists like to concentrate on money, but not Sir Partha; he has been concentrating on something far more valuable – the biodiversity of our planet. It is sad to hear him speak in such blunt terms about how humans are destroying our planet. It only felt right to photograph him among nature.

x Melissa Carnemolla - Marina di Acate, Sicily, Italy

The southeast coast of Sicily, with its 9,000 hectares of greenhouses, is the European area with the highest concentration of covered crops, second only to Almeria in Spain. I realised that amidst the kilometres of plastic greenhouses under which our food grows, entire workers' families live in miserable conditions, surrounded by toxic waste and far from society’s gaze. Chahed is 11 years old. She arrived a year ago with her mother and sisters from Mahdia (Tunisia) to join her father who was already living and working here. When I entered Chahed's bedroom, with much pride, she showed a laurel wreath. Together we came up with the idea of this picture. The 'triumphalis' crown, or 'laurel wreath', symbolised wisdom and glory in Greek mythology. It was the highest honour for a poet who had just graduated. She is a promising student. Seeing her wearing the crown made me dream of her graduation.I hope it will happen, despite her being a small Muslim woman living in a complicated context.

x Bùi Phú Khánh - Quang Nam Province, Vietnam

This community live nomadic lives around the lake, fishing with traditional handmade nets. They barter fish for food, and their children are born and live floating on rafts.

x Ponita Keo - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Dancers of the Cambodian Royal Ballet return to the sacred temples of Angkor to pay homage to ancient dancers and reconnect with the spiritual energy passed down through generations of dancers and masters.

x Hannah Maule-ffinch - Um Rakuba refugee camp, Sudan

Tahir was unwell, he has difficulty with his sight and mobility. He was waiting in 40-degree heat to be seen at a clinic set up to serve over 21,000 refugees. It was established as a sexual healthcare clinic, but people like Tahir come from far and wide in the hope of help for many different issues.

x Philippa James - Oxford, UK

Lucy was surrounded by her girlfriends, immersed in the culture of self-recording and the community and friendship that comes with it.

x Jonangelo Molinari - Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Puma was getting ready to perform his unique mix of Capoeira and Vogue dancing. He uses martial arts and dance as a form of resistance again racism and homophobia.

x Daniele Gambassi - Poggibonsi, Italy

Simone Gambassi, my father, bornt in 1950. Mechanical engineer, widow since 2018.

x Daniele Gambassi - Moraduccio Waterfalls, Firenzuola, Florence, Italy

This group of young friends in their twenties were born in Bologna. Italy is still awaiting a law about second generation immigrants’ citizenship, to recognise the rights of minors born or educated in the country.

x Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Puente Alto, Santiago, Chile

The migration of Haitians to Chile increased markedly in the 2010s. For a country unaccustomed to receiving migrants, especially Afro-descendants, this migratory wave was very striking and generated a break in Chilean society: there were those who asked the government to stop allowing the entry of Haitians, others who took advantage of the situation by developing real human trafficking mafias or charging ridiculous rents for overcrowded spaces. With little institutionality and this racial conflict, Haitians were alone: ​​they had to learn the language and integrate as best they could, often living poorly and suffering discrimination. I took this photo in an evangelical chapel in the community of Puente Alto, Santiago. A Haitian mother and her son attend a talk given by Chilean pastors in creölle. A large group of local evangelicals have learned the language so they can preach and include newcomers to their community. Even small chilean children skillfully read the bible in creölle.

x Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Lascahobas, Haiti

Linda and her kids are starting over in a cooperative community, mostly made up of displaced families following the Puerto Príncipe earthquake. She pays a neighbour to take her children to a school in Lascahobas, 30 minutes away by motorcycle, every day.

x Victoria Ushkanova - Almere Oosterwold, The Netherlands

‘Having both Dutch and Indonesian roots, I felt I never really fitted in. Living in a yurt, intertwined with all the elements, my children and I are rooted into the clay in Oosterwold (a sustainable urban-living collective).’

x Thom Atkinson - Newlyn, Cornwall, UK

Something about the combination of his knife, the ink and his stance reminded me of a Samurai warrior.

x Boris Schmidt - Zuilen, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Freddy was born in Suriname and came to Utrecht in his teens. He has worked as a car mechanic, and told me he stays young by dancing. He is part of my project about whether a sense of community has remained in Zuilen: I gave out six relay sticks, each the starting point of a connection, and the people with that stick came to my studio then passed on the baton. That’s how I capture the connections.

x Fabio De Paola - Coventry Cathedral, UK

Fabric sculptor, designer and sustainable-fashion campaigner Daniel is known for living his life as art. He wears extravagant ensembles that combine haute couture with vintage fabrics, found objects, chainmail, ethnic jewellery and millinery. I shot him ahead of his exhibition, ‘Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken’.

x Toby Binder - Belfast, UK

A police line separates Catholics from a traditional Protestant parade. The small Catholic neighbourhood of Carrick Hill is regularly completely closed off in the marching season, which inevitably leads to confrontations. Brendan (pictured) doesn’t know any different.

x Wouter le Duc - Amersfoort, The Netherlands

In this empty white church there was nothing more than the sitter, the light, the vast space and me. Lotte and I were fully present in the moment.

x Wouter le Duc - Utrecht, The Netherlands

I had the pleasure of photographing talented actor Joes Brauers in a beautiful building. I really enjoyed the way he encounters the world. A curious mind and a soft-spoken intelligent person, he was a joy to talk to. But the real joy was yet to come. When we started photographing, I saw why people love to work with him. In the blink of an eye, he is fully submerged; submerged in the situation, submerged in the location, but above all submerged in fully being there at that moment in space and time.

x Wouter le Duc - Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Daniëlle is a writer and spoken word performer who explores issues around sexuality and acceptance. I captured this honest portrait of her using just natural daylight.

x Gøneja ✷ - Berlin, Germany

Ester is from Germany and is a medical journalist, and Marat is a news photo editor from Kyrgyzstan. I wanted to create an intimate moment that captures their special bond, and this unexpected Pietà motif (a representation of Christ and the Virgin Mary) finally appeared.

x Angela Christofilou - London, UK

Protest is the right to assembly and freedom of expression. This year in the UK people marched and protested to protect this right after it came under threat with the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.

x Phillipa Bloom - Sai Wan Ho Harbour, Hong Kong

His Thomas the Tank Engine armbands caught my eye first, and I was drawn in by his openness and direct gaze. I was at the start of a 65 km coastline walk, a photographic journey I’d begun to try to reconnect with my decades-old home, a territory undergoing rapid change.

x Deirdre Brennan - Dublin, Ireland

I saw Elizabeth and Edward O’Brien walking hand-in-hand and was struck by how glamorous and in love they looked. They told me they had a YouTube channel and were often stopped to be photographed. I asked what made them so glam and they replied, ‘Loving one another makes us glamorous.’

x Deirdre Brennan - Dublin, Ireland

I saw teenager Tadhg Hilliard at Gay Pride, his pink hair blowing in the wind. Tadhg is a musician and has albinism, so wears SPF50 sunblock all over every day, even on bad Irish weather days.

x Carly Zavala - Oyen, Alberta, Canada

My sister and I took all the precautions so that we could travel to where my mom lives in Canada during the pandemic. My mom is a soil scientist, working closely with farmers to help heal their soil, and for this image she took us out to a field she frequents.

x Supratim Bhattacharjee - Namkhana Island, West Bengal, India

This girl saw her tea shop ruined by sea water during super-cyclone Amphan. People here depend on natural resources for their livelihood, but the indiscriminate felling of trees has created an imbalance. Sundarbans is witnessing 3.14 mm rise in sea levels every year.

x Reuben Fakoya-Brooks - Accra, Ghana

Taken near the beach of Accra, this man was having a conversation through the curtain door of a shop.

x Reuben Fakoya-Brooks - Lagos, Nigeria

Taken at 90 mph on the motorway, this shows a worker on her way to Victoria Island riding in a danfo, which is a privately owned bus and common mode of local transport.

x Gautam Dhimal - Mustang District, Gandaki Province, Nepal

The high Himalayan weather is unpredictable. The snow season has changed, the winter is getting colder and the summer heat is unpleasant. The moods of the models and the surrounding landscape tell this story of change.

x Lee-Ann Olwage - Paje, Zanzibar, South Africa

Over 90 per cent of seaweed farmers in Zanzibar are now women, bringing about a profound shift in gender relations in this traditionally patriarchal country. Pili Khalid Pandu is one of the women affectionately known as the ‘Mwani mamas’, female farmers who are not only involved in growing seaweed but also in the making of marine-based products, allowing them to earn significantly more than their peers.

x Lee-Ann Olwage - Lesotho, Africa

Lesotho is a high-altitude, landlocked kingdom where the remote highlands can only be reached on foot or horseback. Being a shepherd is an integral part of Basotho culture; many are boys aged between eight and eighteen who live in small huts in the mountains.

x Jack Lawson - Windsor, UK

Performing on the steps of Windsor Castle, Captain David Cole OBE leads the band in a rendition of ‘God Save The Queen’ before Her Majesty’s Christmas Broadcast.

x Amy Woodward - Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Faye, pregnant with Freya, holds her son Raino. This was captured during a small window of time between the Covid restrictions.

x Amy Woodward - Palmwoods, New South Wales, Australia

I set up a traditional family portrait and waited for it to break apart naturally and reveal that ideal moment of tension and tenderness; the contradicting and vulnerable elements of early parenthood and those hazy newborn days.

x Noah Dolinsky - Bangkok, Thailand

While taking pictures at Bangkok's old central train station I noticed this man whose job is to flag signal to incoming and outgoing trains. He was obviously proud of his job and uniform and gladly agreed to pose for my camera.

x Eddy Pearce - Rio Don Diego, Colombia

I met José while scouting locations for a film near his village. Colombia is a country learning to redefine itself after decades of conflict and violence, and when he briefly lowered the gun and averted his gaze I realised there might be a chance of an image that reflected that struggle between legacy and a more hopeful future.

x Phil Sharp - London, UK

An actor and face-equality activist, Robert is working towards a world where he can be cast simply for the quality of his acting. His energy and confidence is infectious.

x Mariana Arrieta Ibarra - Querétaro, México

Manuel works at an orange stall in the Mercado de Abastos. Every day the shops open in the early hours of the morning until noon, seven days a week, and serve the entire city.

x Léa Mariella - Glasgow, UK

Having to shield after the end of lockdown because of my health, I started documenting my partner, Jamie, around our flat. I wanted to communicate the softness of our relationship, and the affection and serenity I feel for and around him.

x Kayleigh Ward - Suffolk, UK

This is part of a project dedicated to women who have overcome many challenges and obstacles in their lives, which poses the question, ‘What is your biggest accomplishment?’ It makes them realise how far they’ve come and how powerful and strong they really are.

x Tolu Ogunware - Royal Hillsborough, County Down, UK

I was inspired by the phenomenon of vanishing twin syndrome, where a foetus can spontaneously disappear early in a double pregnancy. It seems that Emily and Louise are together against everyone else, including the onlooker. I wanted to depict love, deception and family.

x Ela Yokes - Alexandria, Egypt

I would often see this man selling candyfloss along the seafront. One day he tapped my shoulder and asked me to take this picture of him.

x Hugh Fox - Brighton, UK

This was two days before Beryl’s 100th birthday. She was teaching herself Italian, to add to the five other languages she speaks. Beryl was scouted by British film company Rank in the ’40s, but her mother wouldn’t let her go.

x Hugh Fox - Brighton, UK

Artist Darvsh Fakhr, shown here on the wall, provides a gentle reminder that we can slow down and connect with ourselves and our environment, allowing for spontaneous creativity and play.

x Bryan Birks - Columbia, Illinois, USA

‘Here’s the thing: I have 12 of these cars. Every time I come across one, I have to buy it. They’re a better investment than the stock market.’

x Fabio Ferrari - Djougop refugee camp. Saint-Louis, Senegal

Senegal is the country most threatened by rising sea levels in Africa, and many inhabitants have been forced to leave their homes and move to temporary camps further inland. Around 1500 now live in a camp in Djougop, including Michelle Guoye and her friend Diame Seynabore Fall (pictured), who have been living here for two years.

x Kristina Varaksina - London, UK

Inspired by the courage and beauty of Winnie Harlow, a famous model with vitiligo, at the age of 18 Jas decided to go out without makeup for the first time.

x Kristina Varaksina - London, UK

Sophia and Olivia are twin sisters living in London. They said, ‘Being 15 in today’s world is difficult as we missed a lot of learning due to the pandemic and spent a lot of time at home. Being half Ukrainian means we are constantly worried about family in Ukraine as well as being worried for our mum.’

x Imdad Barbhuyan - Assam, India

This is a self-portrait. As a gender non-conforming person, growing up was a process of navigating the dissonance between my inner self and my expressed identity. I now look within nature to find my truest authentic self and find my place in this polarised world.

x Cristian Barnett - Potsdam, Germany

Olena and Eva fled their home in Kharkiv on 7th March 2022 due to Russian bombing close by. They made numerous bus journeys over one week to get to Potsdam via Lviv, Warsaw and Berlin.

x Peter Zelewski - London, UK

Elizabete teaches Islamic studies to young children at her local mosque. She moved to the UK from Lithuania when she was only two years old, and has lived there with her family ever since.

x Guillaume Petermann - Little Pamir, Afghanistan

Every year, the Wakhi people migrate with their livestock from the Wakhan corridor to the highland pastures of the Big and Little Pamir. They use a walking trails network to bring supplies from the lower valley, between elevations of 4–5000 metres.

x Andrew Rovenko - Melbourne, Australia

As one of the world’s most locked-down cities struggled, everyone needed to find their own way to keep going. Small things. Small wins. Like making a space helmet for your child and going looking for stories.

x Jodie Beardmore - Leeds, UK

‘Following redundancy at the age of 48, I decided to do a degree in social work. I wanted to make a difference. While at university I was asked to model for fashion students, which led to work as a mature model. I also volunteered with the Prince’s Trust. Since then, I have worked with hundreds of young people who are not in

x Nasrah Omar - New York City, New York, USA

Thasfia Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi activist and model. This is part of a series that questions the tropes that populate the troubled landscapes of fantasy realms: the male gaze and fetishisation.

x M’hammed Kilito - Tighmert Oasis, Morocco

Youth emigration is a major problem facing southern Morocco. Hicham emigrated to France, but decided to return to Morocco. Today, he lives in Agadir and works with street children.

x Nina Weinberg Doran - Oaxaca, Mexico

I saw a demonstration for Mayan rights, and as the night wore on protestors found places in the park to sleep. Their calm determination and strength was extremely powerful. It reminds me that we must rise together to fight for basic human rights and peace for all.

x Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom - London, UK

Antonio is originally from Spain and Cedric from France, and they met in London through a dating app. We photographed them in their apartment for a project exploring the intimacy of couples in their personal spaces.

x Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom - Tel Aviv, Israel

Topaz is an Israeli actress, singer and model. She asked to wear full makeup and eyelashes, revealing to us small details that represent a part of her identity.

x Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom - Tel Aviv, Israel

Roy and Josef are tattoo artists, pictured here with their new daughter. We wanted to show that love has many different shapes, and they all deserve to be celebrated.

x Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom - Tel Aviv, Israel

Fifty-seven-year-old Lior is a well-known makeup artist and hairdresser in Israel. We wanted to create an image that explores his masculinity and identity without trying to hide his age – his youthful character is always present.

x Ale Ruaro - São Paulo, Brazil

This is part of a large documentary work in downtown São Paulo. The small boy is an African immigrant living in the biggest city in Brazil.

x Ryan Thomas - Tenby, Wales, UK

This Ethiopian man allowed me to take his photograph at the Penally Army base in Wales, where hundreds of refugees were being kept.

x Marcio Pimenta - Porto Alegre, Brazil

Valéria Barcellos is a transgender multi-disciplinary artist who focuses on the inclusion of trans people in society. This is one of a series of portraits with Black leaders from the local community, referencing the Black Lancers of Brazil’s Farroupilha Revolution in the mid-19th century, and emphasising the potential of the Black population.

x Mahdiyeh Afshar Bakeshloo - Tehran, Iran

I wanted to show that women in our contemporary society seem to have freedom and equality, but the woman of the past is still hidden inside. This is the reality of a girl in my land: she has hidden herself among the cooking utensils.

x Dibakar Roy - Mallikghat, Kolkata, India

Chhath is a colourful cultural festival where people pray to Surya, the Sun god, for their children’s good health, wellbeing and prosperity. This father was giving his child a holy bath in the Ganges.

x Tom Marshak - Marrakech, Morocco

Understanding our past by documenting it as an image tells the story of us as humans. It allows us to appreciate our past and make way for the future.

x Ilka & Franz - London, UK

This was for food writer Grace Dent’s podcast and the Guardian newspaper, and I think the idea to shoot her in a bath full of chips came from Grace herself, as a joke. She told her listeners, ‘Yes, they are real chips. Yes, they were hot and greasy and delicious. Yes, I smelled of chips for days, and it was WONDERFUL.’

x Ben Yew - Bunbury, Western Australia

I wanted to portray hope. Joseph is originally from Sudan but migrated to Australia some time ago and started his tailoring business. Focusing on diversity and boldness in both his life and style, he is a very determined individual.

x Francesco Zinno - London, UK

I took this portrait of David on a sunny day. He had with him a couple of his durags and we shot some images with this pink one. I love how simple it is yet how beautiful he looks. He told me later that this photograph represents ‘the most innocent and pure I have looked since I was a child. To me, this is the last picture I’ve got of myself before I stepped into adulthood.’

x Curtis Hughes - Bexhill, East Sussex, UK

Anabela encapsulates the untouchable confidence and defiance of youth as the transition from child to adult begins.

x Curtis Hughes - Austria, Vienna

Jacob and Jose told me about the complexities of being in a multicultural queer relationship. After many places refused them, they finally married last year.

x Curtis Hughes - Berlin, Germany

Hannah and Diana met online after two failed marriages. They never thought they could find love again after so many years. They now live together, and I felt a huge sense of love, trust, and security in the room, something lacking in our increasingly disposable and capitalist societies.

x Carmel King - London, UK

Ivo is one of the biggest printers in London, and hand-printing is at its heart. David’s job is to hose down the silk screens after they’ve been used on the three 53-metre-long hand printing tables.

x Anusha Thulung Rai - Bardiya, Nepal

Seventy per cent of children in Nepal do not complete their secondary school education due to socioeconomic conditions. The chances of twins Ganga and Jamuna are against the odds, but they are determined to finish.

x Laurie Broughton - Tonypandy, Mid Glamorgan, UK

Cardiff was Wales’ first epicentre for Ballroom culture, and the community has evolved into a vibrant celebration of queer identity across Wales, offering a safe space for people to connect.

x Niamh McParland - London, UK

Imogen and I discussed overcoming struggles with body image and eating disorders while I photographed her naked. As a private person, I admire her natural openness and honesty.

x Jason Dimmock - London, UK

I met soul singer Kwabs close to where he lives in Peckham. There was a quiet moment where he began to recite lyrics and harmonise, as if alone in a room.

x Jon Nicholls - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

‘People around me seem to think I’m lost and don’t know what I want from life, but I think not knowing what is next has given me a purpose in and of itself. We are all on a floating rock, do what you like.’

x Phil Hill - Watford, UK

Darcie spent almost a year having to wear a patch every day to correct her eyesight. She was not too happy about it.

x Margarita Mavromichalis - Tokyo, Japan

I am always in awe of people who dare to be different. Japan is one of the countries where, even though people tend to be very traditional in many ways, you see the most incredible street fashion.

x Ekaterina Pavlova - Omsk, Siberia, Russia

When I became a mom, I realised it is the most difficult job in the world. To give breast milk is to give love, to be one with the child; but a woman also loses some part of herself, loses her personal space, time and even the right to her body.

x Filipe Bianchi - Lisbon, Portugal

This small mosque serves the Bangladeshi community in Lisbon, a vibrant group who emigrated to Europe in search of a more stable future but have never lost the connection to their homeland.

x Peter Vandermeersch - Greystones, County Wicklow, Ireland

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x Peter Vandermeersch - Dublin, Ireland

They were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce’s master work in Sweny’s Pharmacy, a place mentioned in the novel when it is visited by Leopold Bloom.

x Laurent Nilles - Stone Town, Zanzibar

The men were absorbed in their game, it was the only thing that mattered to them. It was a timeless scene that could have happened 100 years ago, as if they had been sitting there in concentration forever.

x Aaron Yeandle, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands

I shot this early in the pandemic, when images in the media of medical staff in hazmat suits made many of us scared. I wanted to recall the past and the present of PPE masks, from bubonic plague costumes to modern- day masks. This one is made from gum tape, sculpted around a balloon, and modelled by my partner, who found it hot and claustrophobic.

x Laurent Nilles - Central Bulgaria

Ivan is wearing a bear costume he made himself to participate in Bulgaria’s Kukeri celebrations. These age-old ceremonies always take place in winter, which they are supposed to chase away.

x Laurent Nilles - Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa

This is Mathieu, the leader of the Guéré tribe. Their traditional dance features young girls (called ‘snake girls’) who show off their contortionist skills and are thrown in the air and ‘juggled’ with.

x Zhang Chenglong - Beijing, China

The weather was considerably hotter than usual. In the small terrace pool I would dive into the water, feeling the pressure, isolated air and sounds, as a way to practise patience.

x Cécile Smetana - Copenhagen, Denmark

Vigga, six years old, outside her parents’ home.

x Natcha Wongchanglaw - New York City, New York, USA

Every time I meet someone new or have someone stay in my house, I feel there is a lesson that they have shared with me, by telling me about their life, showing me a different way or a different lifestyle.

x João Daniel Pereira - London, UK

Reverend Tim Hewes sewed his lips together to protest the lack of climate change reporting. His hand was shaking from the pain, but the determination in his eyes was unshakeable. He said: ‘I dread the world that my children and grandchildren will see. This is why I intend to do everything within my power to draw attention to the insane approach of media and government. Nothing in my life is now more important. These are the defining days of my life.’

x João Daniel Pereira - London, UK

I took this photo of Rosy as an oil slick during an Extinction Rebellion protest. She told me: ‘I’m here because knowing what I do about what’s happening in the world, and the part that our species is playing in that, and the threat to all species because of it, I need to be here.

x Shinya Itahana - Tottori, Japan

These young men come from different places to live and work on the winter ski slopes of rural Japan. After a day’s work outdoors in rough weather, they return to their lodgings looking like old men, with snow covering their bodies and white hair. Their happy voices always echo in the bathhouse, and they don’t hear the wind outside. Their days are made up of a series of small, peaceful moments.

x Allan Salas - Puntarenas, Costa Rica

An abandoned house caught my attention. I saw one of the doors open timidly, and a man called Damian emerged. He told me that the house was not his, but he was taking care of it and living there.

x Camila Svenson - Bauru, Brazil

‘Every time you take my photograph, I remember I cannot smile,’ my grandma told me. I asked her why, and she said that smiles are not real, on the inside everyone is sad.

x Gavin Doran - Varanasi, India

I met this sadhu, or holy man, on the banks of the Ganges. I was struck by the sincerity in his gaze, he truly seemed at peace with who he was. Every morning after, we traded smiles and shook hands; no matter if we speak the same language, no matter our religion, we all seek connection.

x Amira Karaoud - Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Covid took home away from circus performers and forced them to rethink it. This project captures the fantastic and extraordinary lives of aerialists and acrobats, and their remaking of a new home that includes a bed to sleep in and a stage to train and perform on.

x Iringó Demeter - Transylvania, Romania

I never imagined that my very religious grandmother would ever agree to pose for a picture, but she positioned herself naturally and confidently. She asked me to show everyone, because it is important that people see her as she is.

x Iringó Demeter - Transylvania, Romania

Otto is an 11-year-old gentle giant that my father adopted as a puppy. This photo carries mixed emotions for me, as it reminds me that their tight bond means my family has never visited me since I moved to London, because my father refuses to leave Otto.

x Iringó Demeter - Transylvania, Romania

Every Sunday, my mother takes a bath. It’s a ritual she’s been following for many years. She said the images I take of her make her feel important.

x Clair Robins - Leicester, UK

I hardly recognise my daughter some days. She is a teenager, flirting with womanhood; tall, strong, independent, incredibly confident, yet equally vulnerable.

x Lieven Engelen - Cape Coast, Ghana

Bernard Mate Butu knew how to swim before he could walk or talk. These are the children of the sea, whose future is closely linked with that of our oceans; they see themselves as the true custodians of these giant ecosystems.

x Ana Margarita Flores - Geneva, Switzerland

Noelia is the first child to be born into our group of friends, so she was eagerly awaited. Now that I have moved to London, every moment with them is even more precious.

x Francesco Fantini - London, UK

There are around 4000 boat residences along London’s canals. Hannah, a student at Central Saint Martins art school, is part of this community of new nomads.

x Gabrielle Motola - London, UK

His sign drew me towards him. On his table were copies of a book, Africans and Racism in the Diaspora. We discussed the nature of racism as being the pre-judgement of a person based on just a physical attribute. It turned out he was the author of the book.

x Gabrielle Motola - New York City, New York, USA

A flash of red caught my eye on a sombre day in Hell’s Kitchen. Marie told me she used to model and looks forward to the end of the pandemic. We only spoke for a couple of minutes, but the exchange lifted us up above the gloom.

x Gabrielle Motola - London, UK

I’m drawn to people’s faces; thrones of emotional, and in this case creative, expression. This isn’t face paint. Even his eyeball is tattooed. I asked him if he likes pain, and he said, ‘No I don’t like pain, I just like tattoos.’

x Gabrielle Motola - London, UK

Our present freedoms are built on past struggles. Everyone pictured here has played a role in defending and progressing LGBTQ+ rights. Third from the left is human-rights campaigner Peter atchell. Front and centre is Julian Hows, who protested gender norms 44 years ago while working for London Transport by requesting the right to wear a woman’s uniform (the women could choose which they wore).

x Jean Ayotte - Montreal, Canada

This photo is about intimacy, but an intimacy we are invited to look at and question: ‘Will this last? Is it transitory?’

x Craig McIntosh - Glasgow, UK

Andre is wearing a hybrid garment that brings together two opposing Scottish football teams and cultures, mixing masc and femme, imagining a world where football is more camp,playful and inclusive.

x Craig McIntosh - John Muir Country Park, East Lothian, UK

In this world, imagination never diminishes, we do things free of judgement. Here, Bels is at the beach with her alpaca, waiting patiently for her friends.

x Craig McIntosh - East Saltoun, East Lothian, UK

Each morning dad will make himself a cup of coffee, sit down in the same chair and read the newspaper. It’s been like this for two years now. Some mornings the silence is so deafening that I switch the TV on just to hear myself think. This is our new normal.

x Nicola and Manuel - Milan, Italy

This is a love letter to Ked’s multiplicity, to her blossoming into a new state of self-expression where binary thinking doesn’t exist. Mysterious, innocent, vulnerable, sensual, insolent, dark, pure: a new form of womanhood.

x Joseph P Smith - San Gwann, Malta

Paul and Alfred Beck took over the family printing company at the ages of 17 and 14. They stand between machinery that has been passed down from generation to generation, men who have spent the majority of their lives working side by side.

x Stella Asia Consonni - New York City, New York, USA

More than 20 million children live in a home without a father. Millions more have dads who are physically present, but emotionally absent. This is an ode to fatherhood as a lifelong responsibility.

x Ornella Mazzola - Sicily, Italy

This is part of my long-term project about the women of my family in Sicily. What began as a personal diary has become about the complex relationships between all women.

x Cecilia Sordi Campos - Melbourne, Australia

I’m infertile. When I discuss motherhood it is frequently greeted with an uncomfortable silence. My body, it seems, has failed to conform to social and biological expectations.

x Adam Docker - Slab City, East Jesus, California

Scotto has been living off the grid in an alternative lifestyle community for 20 years, creating dystopian art pieces from recycled junk. He refers to these experimental art sculptures as ‘Salvage Punk’.

x Tamsyn Warde - Trinity Winchester Building, Hampshire, UK

Rachel’s relationship with Andy was an important part of who she was at the time. She was vulnerably housed and he felt like home to her. They jived all afternoon to very loud 1950s rock ’n’ roll.

x Thomas Nerantzis - Thessaloniki, Greece

The elderly woman is having a conversation with herself, back when her body was young and beautiful, reconciled by now with the passing of time.

x Kelly-Ann Bob - Belmont, Trinidad and Tobago

This is part of a body of work comprising Trinidadian artists, models, and fashion designers. It highlights our Afro-Caribbean culture and is influenced by artist Boscoe Holder. Kegan Gulstan is a model and athlete who went into modelling after encouragement from a local designer. He told me, ‘Life is short and time waits on no one in this world, but it’s never too late to achieve your goals and live your dreams!’

x Kelly-Ann Bobb - Belmont, Trinidad and Tobago

Jabari St Cyr is a Trinidadian model who loves marathon running, hiking and gymnastics. This series focuses on Black expression through fashion, drawing inspiration from the Caribbean aesthetic of artist Boscoe Holder.

x Radhika Muthanna - Birmingham, UK

With mainstream media continuing to promote an unbalanced vision and unrealistic standards of femininity, reinforcing the patriarchal structures in society. Advertisements dictating what is natural and abnormal about our bodies and masking it as a conventional feminine aesthetic. The mainstream media continues to exclude femininity in the population with real-life experiences. Representations of women are often defined by how society expects women to look and behave and how well they conform to society's expectations. Stepping away from this narrative, we created this work to break down some of these barriers for the current and future generations. It explores feminine energy as being naturally instilled in our soul, regardless of the appearances and characteristics of our bodies.

x James Williamson - Glasgow, UK

Ninety-six-year-old James ‘Jimmy’ Docherty joined the navy at the age of 18, serving on a ship during the Normandy landings: ‘I wasn’t brave and am no hero; at some points I was terrified, but luckily enough I made it through.’

x Jacopo Papucci - Przemysl, Poland

Sister Sancja is a nurse and, together with eleven other nuns, belongs to the Order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.The convent is currently hosting four refugees, but it can accommodate up to 25.

x Bongani Tshabalala - Welkom, South Africa

Montsho, meaning ‘black’, is a word used in South Africa to make fun of a dark-skinned person. This photo explores the emotional effects of childhood teasing; it is about both destruction and preservation.

x Maria Guțu - Dumeni, Republic of Moldova

These boys were at the village beach, close to the Romanian border. One third of Moldova’s population has emigrated, and the number of young citizens leaving increases each year.