The Photojournalism Hub Calendar 2026 showcasing the incredible work of photojournalists and documentary photographers who have contributed to our mission.
We had a WhatsApp application to keep us informed of any project updates. Up to two weeks ago, we did not know that we would have relied heavily on technology to stay connected. And as the time went past, it became the only option to keep us connected.
The COVID-19 global outbreak has dramatically changed the lives of many and with it the way we communicate and interact ‘each other’s stories. Social distancing and isolation have left millions to largely interact via digital means.
I am glad that the Knowing You project, which began three months ago has provided a wonderful ground for women in west London to meet, get to know each other and develop a photography narrative on each other stories. This has led the participants to naturally want to continue with the project and navigate through the immediate challenges.
Moving from face to face engagement to working online will reflect this exceptional time of distancing, isolation and profound sadness.
“The project has brought women from different backgrounds and communities together through learning, dialogue and photography. It has been an incredible to see the complexity of people’s idea develop and take form. All this with Cinzia’s help, support and guidance. People have learned about far more than photograph during the project” – Katherine
Knowing You is kindly supported by the charity Near Neighbours.
Photojournalism is an industry that is still dominated by men. Suzanne Plunkett, award winning photojournalist, reaffirmed this fact during the Photojournalism Hub’s talk event last Monday. She recounted her impressive career and highlighted that she was always among only a handful of women photographers within a sea of men when working for agencies. Her lived experience can be reflected in the fact that ‘just 18% of the AOP’s accredited photographers and assistant photographers are women.’ (Steven: 2019). Along with the clear gender bias towards employing male photographers, she also touched on issues of sexism from managers in agencies, not being taken as seriously as her male counterparts and the lack of demand for stories that cover important female issues.
Talking about these issues was pertinently timed as International Women’s Day was to be celebrated just 6 days ahead of the talk. The theme of this year’s IWD was Each for Equal – aiming to help create a more equal world where women are always on the same platform as men. Suzanne, along with Chiara Ceolin and Quintina Valero (the two other speakers at the event) are certainly helping to create gender equality by doing such amazing work with women around the world and documenting their stories. They have worked on projects with victims of female genital mutilation, sex trafficking and female prison.
By having more amazing female photojournalists in the industry we are creating a levelled playing field and going against a male centric selection of stories in the media. We need to keep recognising the achievements of female photographers and those who are telling the stories of women to come closer to a world where gender discrimination is a thing of the past.
Reflecting back on the last three weeks since the start of the ‘Knowing You’ project, I cannot say how inspiring and meaningful this is proving to be. The project brings together women from White City with different backgrounds, ethnicities and religious beliefs on the common ground of sharing their personal story to one another and develop a photo story of each other.
The aim of the project is to break down barriers and prejudices by creating the basis for bonding and cohesion through getting to know someone of different religious or ethnic background. Our sessions to date in one of the meeting rooms of Our Lady of Fatima Church in White City have explored interview techniques, story structures and photography. Women have shared their earliest memories and meaningful and defining moments and are reflecting, working together from those. And in these questions, inevitably the project has opened up much deeper layers, something that perhaps I did not envisage to be so strong; women have shared painful, joyful, hopeful experiences.
Being together, women shared, has awaken a safe space, a discovery of oneself through another. Who are we? Who am I? – one of the participants asks. Unapologetic, Bold, Beautiful– another participant describes how she tries to convey her perceptions of a fellow participant. ‘Knowing You’ is awakening, connecting and probing reflection on common experiences of being a woman, of dealing with representation of another woman’s story which brings to light aspects of oneself and of ourselves. Despite, the difference of background it seems to connect everyone on this important core. ‘Knowing You’ project is supported by the charity
Sharing below some photographs from the talk event on youth and crime we held on the 17th September 2019 at the Invention Rooms in White City.
We presented a very diverse group of panellist who shared their experiences and insights on this very important issue: Raheel Butt, who is an ex gang member, Dr.Roger Grimshaw, Research Director of the Centre for Crime and Justice, Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi, investigative journalist and photographer Robin Friend.
The conversations showed different perspectives that included the raw experiences of Raheel Butt, the research of Dr. Grimshaw that points to emotional deprivation and poverty in early years’ link to aggregation to gangs, and Robin’s visual research looking at austerity measures, Brexit and lack of youth provisions as precursors of youth crime.
Once the presentations ended, we asked the public why they came to the event and that was the start of a very powerful sharing of the public’s own experiences, including their own children’ being caught in the fabric of crime, gang membership and radicalisation.
This was a very powerful talk event, matched by a strong feel of wanting to change things in the White City community, a strong fear for the future of children, and a need to connect with each other to look for solutions. The public asked to have their email shared with each other.
The current Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected communities and people who were already marginalised, discriminated, and at the throng of continuous injustices and inequalities. We are bringing together stories, investigations from around the world to highlight and advocate and create the important exposure to leverage and bring about positive changes. In the 9th edition of the Journal on “Injustice & Inequalities: Covid-19”, we present the work of two great photographers Richard Juilliart and Tomás Cajueiro.
Richard Juilliart shares his in-depth and poignant documentary on the conditions of the Rohingya displaced population in Bangladesh. For over twenty years, the Rohingya people have suffered the atrocities of racism, violence and displacement. Their plight has only intensified with the current Covid-19 pandemic rendering them extremely vulnerable to infections due to poor, inadequate, and terrifying living conditions in the refugee camps of Cox Bazar in Bangladesh.
Tomas Cajueiro’s work maps the emptiness of our known world filled by the incessant work of volunteers. Interposing the empty streets with the portrays of those filling them, Tomas is presenting a touching documentation of collective and personal experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pandemic has widened social inequalities and injustices and this journal is sharing realities, issues and disparities that we need to see, reflect upon and action.
The Rohingya people are a stateless Muslim minority in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine. They have been forced out of Myanmar (also known as Burma) by violence and racism for more than 20 years. Myanmar’s government refuses to recognize the Rohingya people as one of the 135 official minority groups in the country, denying them citizenship as long as they identify as Rohingya. The most recent crisis began in August 2017 when hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people — more than half of whom were children —fled violence against them by seeking refuge in neighboring Bangladesh.
Currently estimated to include a million people, most of these refugees have settled in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh, living in sprawling refugee camps. The largest camp houses as many people as the City of Baltimore but in a space occupying only five square miles (13 square kilometers). These temporary settlements were put up very quickly, leading to concerns about WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), shelter and safety for women and girls.
The arrival of COVID-19 in the Cox’s Bazar area has raised concerns about the health of the Rohingya refugees occupying the settlements. The tight spaces, accompanied by the lack of access to basic services, especially healthcare, leave those residing in Cox’s Bazar especially vulnerable to the virus. As a result of these concerns, Bangladesh imposed a complete lockdown on Cox’s Bazar with only critical aid and healthcare staff being allowed to enter and exit the area. Aid agencies working in Cox’s Bazar have mobilized Rohingya volunteers to support hygiene and prevention messaging in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19. As they work to limit the spread within the camps, relief and response workers have started transitioning away from collective points of distribution into delivering supplies directly to the households of people at high-risk of COVID-19.
Despite the best efforts of healthcare organizations, aid agencies and Rohingya volunteers, the first case of COVID-19 in Cox’s Bazar was confirmed on May 15, 2020, with the first death confirmed on May 30, 2020. As of Dec. 31, 2020, more than 360 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among the Rohingya refugee community in Cox’s Bazar with another 5,200 in the surrounding region. Of those cases, 10 members of the refugee community have died from COVID-19 along with another 72 from the surrounding region. In addition to the toll COVID-19 is taking on the physical health of Rohingya refugees, the increased restrictions on aid and aid workers have also reduced the amount of mental health support available to these displaced people.
Newly arrived Rohingya refugees waiting for food aid at Kutupalong camp on April 16, 2018 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Over 650,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to Bangladesh since August last year, fleeing the violence.
Rohingya people walk around as shelters are seen behind them at Kutupalong refugee camp in Maynar Guna, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on April 16, 2018. Rohingya people, who fled from oppression in Myanmar, try to live in hard conditions at makeshift settlements made from bamboo, adobe or nylon at Kutupalong refugee camp. Over 650,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to Bangladesh since August last year, fleeing the violence
Newly arrived Rohingya refugees waiting for food aid at Kutupalong camp on April 16, 2018 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Over 650,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to Bangladesh since August last year, fleeing the violence.
Newly arrived Rohingya refugees waiting for food aid at Kutupalong camp on April 16, 2018 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Over 650,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to Bangladesh since August last year, fleeing the violence.
Rohingya refugee at the Kutupalong transit center . Over 650,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to Bangladesh since August last year, fleeing the violence.
A Rohingya refugee woman holds her young child .
Over 650,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to Bangladesh since August last year, fleeing the violence.
Rohingya refugee is seen at hospital at Kutupalong camp on January 17, 2018 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
In November 2017 there were 7 named camps in Kutupalong, now there are 20 and there are now approximately 600,000 Rohingya refugees in the Kutupalong refugee camp of Southern Bangladesh. While preparations are now being made for the Monsoon season which is fast approaching.
Rohingya refugee is seen at hospital at Kutupalong camp on January 17, 2018 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
In November 2017 there were 7 named camps in Kutupalong, now there are 20 and there are now approximately 600,000 Rohingya refugees in the Kutupalong refugee camp of Southern Bangladesh. While preparations are now being made for the Monsoon season which is fast approaching.
A 90-year-old Rohingya refugee talks with his granddaughter. They walked more than 7 days before crossing the border at the Kutupalong transit center. Over 650,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to Bangladesh since August last year, fleeing the violence.
Rohingya refugee at the Kutupalong transit center . Over 650,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to Bangladesh since August last year, fleeing the violence.
It was March 2020 when suddenly everything stopped. Gone in an instant cars horns and noises, the shouting in the bars, the curious glances in the museums, the screams of the kids in the park. Maybe we’ve never really given the proper attention to the importance of all those small details as they have always been there available. Why worry about losing something that we’ve never lost? Then COVID came, and suddenly everything was not there anymore. In just a few weeks, all changed, and we were deprived of these simple but essential things. Nothing has been the same as before. Suddenly the world became empty. However, that void was immediately filled by the volunteers who, wearing a mask, placed themselves at the service of all those who held out a hand in search of help. Volunteers were the human face emerging out of the emergency.
It was in such a situation that ‘Dal vuoto, al volto’ was born. ‘Dal vuoto, al volto’ (‘From the void to the face’) is a photo reportage produced by Tomás Cajueiro that register Turin in the pandemic period through the eyes of a photographer who was recently arrived in the city. A photographic journey under the banner of the strength of a community that, while facing an epochal challenge, sees an important part of its citizens unite to fight the immediate social effects of the inevitable economic crisis.
A project that combines the emptiness of the streets with the faces of the volunteers. Taken partly in the streets of different neighbourhoods and partly within non-profit associations that continue to work, the reportage ‘From the void to the face’ creates a historical testimony of a particular moment characterized by isolation and social distancing but which brings many citizens closer to the values left out in everyday affairs.
Under the silence of the main streets and the solitude of the parks, Turin society has moved and has shown enormous strength and resilience, which is highlighted in the second part of the series: portraits with and without masks, in the foreground, of the volunteers who fight the pandemic in its various aspects. Pictures that show the faces behind the masks, which give a human look to the emergency.
The images were taken in various Turin associations, in partnership with Torino Solidade, Volontariato Torino, Circo li Arci and Case del Quartiere. Remember who the volunteers are facing the health risk, have been at the forefront in the fight against the social impacts caused by Coronavirus emergency.
Tomás Cajueiro is a photographer with a long experience in producing reportages capable of proposing with feeling a reflection on people’s lives and how differences, starting with cultural ones, can ennoble and enrich the world around us.
The Turin Volunteer Service Center promotes and supports Volunteers’ presence and role in Third Sector Entities, with particular reference to Volunteer Organizations, providing free technical, logistical, training, and information support services.
The Turin Volunteer Service Center enthusiastically shared Tomás Cajueiro’s project. It offered a privileged position to tell the world of Turin volunteering and how it mobilized to provide immediate responses to the new needs arising from the health emergency.
I would like to express my thanks to everyone for their Nomination, the wonderful participants, the charity Near Neighbours, the London Faith & Belief and Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Greater London’s Council on Faith. It is an honour that the Photojournalism Hub’s Knowing You project will be receiving a Certificate of Recognition from the Faith and Belief Forum and Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London’s Council on Faith on the 30th November at The Royal Society of Medicine.
Knowing You photo-book cover with an image of the participants meeting over Zoom during lock-down
During the summer of 2020, I decided to commit to a photo project documenting the Black Lives Matter demonstrations around London. The tragic death of George Floyd in Minnesota on the 25th May triggered the first demonstration in London on the 31st May 2020. I wanted to use this opportunity to hopefully capture a positive change in our country. I believe that mainstream media are effective at dividing the nation, writing articles that are designed to cause anger, at times it is difficult to find honesty in the writing. I wanted to discover firsthand what the BLM movement was about.
Experiencing the protests, it is clear that there’s a lot of anger and frustration towards racism in the country, and it was insightful to be able to listen to so many passionate speakers sharing their experiences. As a white photographer covering these protests, I quite often had the feeling that maybe I didn’t belong, wondering who I really was to be covering the demonstrations. I now believe that attending the protests has opened my eyes to a lot of things, mainly the fact that just being not racist doesn’t help solve much at all.
A more proactive approach is needed to help create change in the country when it comes to racism. Being more inclusive towards other cultures within a work place is one of the many things to think about. I work as camera crew in the film industry, an industry that is notorious for being dominated by white males. I have however seen a lot of positive change towards the diversion of cultures and gender when it comes to crewing up for productions. One organisation that has been set up is The Hue List, a film and TV crewing service for hiring BAME workers in the UK and EU. A wonderful initiative for helping to create a more diverse group of workers in the UK film and tv industries.
In the process of wanting to be as objective as possible with my project, I also photographed an opposing protest on the 13th June. Far Right and English Defense League supporters turned up in Westminster to counter protest the BLM demonstrations. It didn’t take long to realise that these protesters where basically using this opportunity to have a ‘piss up’ in the park, with little to no agenda to their protesting. Witnessing EDL supporters harassing members of the public, along with aggression towards police and the press, were all things that created a feeling of disgust within me. A placard from a BLM demonstration on Speakers Corner sticks in my mind, ”Racism is not Patriotism”.
I think one of the more eventful days was the 6th June. BLM protesters peacefully marched down Whitehall to the gates of Downing Street. In a dramatic turn of weather, a thunder storm opened up and torrential rain poured down on London in an almost disorientating fashion. This created chaos on the street, riling up protesters as a select group of people began throwing projectiles and smoke grenades towards Metropolitan police and Downing Street. In a turn of events this led to mounted police officers attempting to control the crowds of protesters.
A young protester then pushed his bike into one of the horses, causing the horse to spook and for a police officer to sustain serious injuries. These events all got majorly criticized, with opinions stating that the Met police acted too heavily in this scenario. It was a combination of people turning up to purposefully cause trouble and the police making some bad decisions controlling that. Leading to the BLM movement as a whole receiving backlash from the media for the events that happened that day.
The Desert Locust is considered the most destructive migratory pest in the world and a single swarm covering one square kilometre can contain up to 80 million locusts. (FAO)
One mega-swarm of locusts detected in 2020 in Kenya covered 240,000 hectares of land, an area the size of Luxembourg. (FAO)
At their peak earlier in early 2020, swarms were eating 1.8m tonnes of vegetation a day across 350 sq km the FAO says. (BBC)
It was predicted more than 25 million people in east Africa would experience food insecurity in 2020 with the locust infestations compounding the situation. (International Observatory Human Rights)
Georgina Smith is a photojournalist based in Nairobi, Kenya and recently appeared as a guest speaker at one of the Photojournalism Nights online events. At the event she spoke of the impact climate change induced locust plagues are having on pastoralist communities in the County of Isiolo, Kenya. Having grown up in a rural area of Zambia, Georgina has lived in close proximity to the natural environment herself, which is one of the reasons for her investigating this story. Below Georgina answers my questions regarding the locust plagues and highlights how the local pastoralist communities living on the ‘front lines’ of climate change are suffering human rights abuses.
How is climate change linked to the locust plagues in Kenya?
‘With the story that I was working on for the locust invasion most people are saying there was a climate (change) link. This is because the increased heavy rainfall meant that there was more breading going on in the locus populations, so that combined with some other things meant that there was this huge influx of locusts coming into Kenya from other parts of Africa such as Yemen and Somalia. When they arrived in Kenya last year (2019) it was the worst outbreak for 70 years. Most people had never seen them in that many numbers before, so it was quite a shock for people.’
What was your motivation for investigating this story?
‘I think it was the fact that at the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2019 there were all these news reports coming in about this invasion and that it was the worst one in 70 years. So that was the broad news story, but I really wanted to dig into it and find out who specifically was being affected as I knew in those areas there are pastoralist communities and they are very vulnerable communities anyways. They really are hit by so many different things; the impact of climate change in a normal year, by so many other elements and the weather. They are very close to the environment and so anything that happens they feel the impacts first.
The plagues also have impacts with regards to security and conflict, because once the food runs out for the animals, those herders have to take their animals to different pastures and perhaps trespass on other lands. So I was interested to show how these communities are struggling with those multiple impacts, and this was the time Covid had just hit so that was another thing. There was all these layers of challenges that they were facing.’
Is the locust plague causing food insecurity there?
‘Yes, so the issue was that the locusts were eating the food for the animals and in this area the community is very dependent on the animals. So if the animals die, which they did, they don’t have meat, milk and they don’t have income as they often rely on the animals for income as well. This created a triple effect in the sense that they basically lost everything. Also, some of the people we spoke to said some of the pesticides that were being sprayed (to kill the locusts) also killed some of the animals, but that hasn’t been verified. In any case the animals were being wiped out so the communities were being put in a very difficult situation.’
What type of practices were they putting in place to try and resolve the issue?
‘So they (the communities) were working with FAO the government to try and spray the locust swarms to stop them from spreading. That was the main effort that was happening. Yet, at the beginning of the pandemic there were some issues around the logistics of getting all of the equipment in place. But then as the pandemic went on that was less of an issue. So that was basically how they were trying to control it, and this was in July 2020. So that was the situation at that time.’
You mentioned earlier that the communities were having to trespass on land, did this cause conflict?
‘Well we didn’t see anything, but one of the people we spoke with who was a peace-broker as it were, said that she had worked with the communities to try and resolve conflict so it was definitely tense. But I haven’t seen anything as a result of that yet, but I could be wrong as I wasn’t there to see it.’
Will you be following up with the communities in the future?
‘Yes I think so, I haven’t done anything yet but I hope that it is something I can go back to and revisit as the locust plague is still a big problem at the moment and they didn’t manage to get rid of all of them. They come back once the seasons change so it is this constant cycle. Right now other people are following up with it.’
Is there anything you’d like to add about the communities and the impact this is having on their human rights?
‘I think something to add is that in general the poorest communities are the ones who are dependent on the land and are the ones who face the biggest impacts with regards to climate change. We all see the impact of climate change around the world but it’s the people who are living with the environment, on the front lines, who see these first. I’m sure there are things we can learn from these communities about how we can manage our natural resources and land better so that we don’t make these challenges worse.’
White City Place Holds PhotojoWhite City Place | 18 April 2019
In April 2019, Photojournalism Hub brought together photographers, community organisations and practitioners at White City Place for a discussion exploring participatory photography and ways of working with communities.
Curated by Photojournalism Hub founder and director Cinzia D’Ambrosi, the event brought together Tom Elkins, CEO of PhotoVoice; Andy Fearn, Director of Protection Approaches; photographer and FotoSynthesis director Ingrid Guyon; and photographers Becky Warnock and Grace Gelder, whose work includes participatory approaches.
The discussion explored how photography can be used collaboratively with communities and considered different methodologies for engaging people in projects that address sensitive social issues.
A central part of the event was the question of how community outreach can be developed in a respectful and safe way. During the Q&A, local community members asked the speakers about building meaningful relationships, reaching people who may be excluded from traditional photography projects and ensuring that participation does not cause further harm.
The speakers drew on their own experiences of working with communities around sensitive subjects, including projects involving young people and self-harm.
The event reflected an important strand of Photojournalism Hub’s early work: bringing practitioners together to question how photojournalism is made, who gets to tell stories and how photographers can work responsibly with the people whose lives they document.
It also reflects the Hub’s wider commitment to using photography not simply to represent communities, but to engage people in the process of telling stories and addressing issues that matter to them.
