I follow the photo society on Instagram and some of Robin's work has continuously popping up and I was intrigued by what I saw so I clicked on his website and I was completely surprised by what I found.
@thephotosociety is an Instagram account created to show the work of many National Geographic photographers.
https://vimeo.com/14247840
this video provided powerful images from the series "Rape: a Weapon of War" that was able to take my heart that is very distant from this situation and place it right in Africa with the life changing stories these women told. Many times in Robin's photographs he uses very direct light where the subjects faces are only partially lit. Many time you aren't able to see the persons whole body but only parts of it. Parts where women had been burned or gouged or stabbed. Other times you were able to see the whole figure and in the caption is able to put the pieces of what happened to the woman together. Each photo holds such vibrant colors and to me that reminds me of the innocence that many of these women had before they were raped but when you look past the clothes and see their bodies you can begin to see the emotional and physical role this has taken on them.
In this next series he addresses the abandonment, treatment, and horrid conditions that the mentally ill have to go through. Currently right now I am really interested in projects done on incarcerated people in many of these photographs though they are not in "jail" the images show that many of these people have been "locked up" from the outside world. They are not allowed to be in regular life and certainly not the be treated as normal. Many times you can see how they are trapped because the people in their village do not know how to handle them.
Here's another video but focused on the "Condemned Series"
http://www.robinhammond.co.uk/condemned-interview-by-world-press/#more-1432
Heartbreaking. I wonder how anyone has the strength to even get that close to those stories and stay sane. But I'm glad he does. The images are shattering. That's really all I can think to say. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking. I wonder how anyone has the strength to even get that close to those stories and stay sane. But I'm glad he does. The images are shattering. That's really all I can think to say. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteKerry beat me to it! These are heart wrenching. Although, they maybe hard to look at, they are very important to document. Photos like these help the world understand what other countries go through. It also helps us to avoid ever doing it again.
ReplyDeleteThese photos hold so much truth and meaning behind them. They automatically trigger the thought of how much we all have to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteThese photos hold so much truth and meaning behind them. They automatically trigger the thought of how much we all have to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteThese images are breathtaking, so much hurt behind this series. It is so unfortunate for someone to go through these difficulties and live in these conditions. We truly have something to be thankful for.
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