“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” - Second Amendment of the American Constitution (ratified in 1791). I'm not even going to get into the relevance to today's society of something written 230 years go (a militia?). Suffice to say that the United States are home to more privately-owned firearms than human beings. That's right, 393 million guns versus 328 million peop

"If I have to change my lifestyle, I don't want to live." - Robert Mapplethorpe In this powerful self-portrait Robert Mapplethorpe looks us straight in the eye. The glowing black background and the focused use of light make his head and his hand look almost detached from his torso, as if floating in mid-air. The skull sceptre he is so forcefully holding in the foreground symbolises the awareness that death was coming for him. Mapplethorpe would die of an AIDS-related illness

Like many, I have been following the recent events unfolding in Afghanistan. I have mostly been feeling sad and powerless while thinking about how badly the Taleban takeover has affected our Afghani sisters' hard-won rights from the comfort of my home where I enjoy peace and freedom. It's easy to get cynical and think that throwing money at something so huge and tragic doesn't do anything to solve the problem, but the reality is that women journalists in Afghanistan are facin

'Beauty is the main line to make people feel something.' - Richard Mosse It's easy to be fooled by the alluring colours of the striking photo chosen for the advertising poster of this superb exhibition at the MAST Foundation, but anyone who may have been misled by that imagery soon realises what the show is really about. Mosse is interested in the themes of war, displacement and migration, and with his camera he captures beauty and tragedy where there's conflict and destructi

“My photography has always provided me with an opportunity to open myself up and see the world around me. And most of all, photography makes me look within.” - Laura Aguilar In her series of self-portraits set in the rocky desert landscape of the American Southwest, Laura Aguilar used her body like a sculpture, she is a human monolith. Her large body is draped on a big boulder whose shape echoes hers. It's hard to say whether she felt at one with nature or whether she was try

"I think that most work that’s made by black artists is considered to be about blackness. [Laughs.] Unlike work that’s made by white artists, which is assumed to be universal at its core." - Carrie Mae Weems How many assumptions do we make every time we look at a piece of art? How much of of our own experience do we project? And does the artwork then become more about what we want it or need it to be? Weems' statement is eye-opening and it made me reflect about my way of appr

‘The series was created from a personal need for spiritual grounding after experiencing trauma. The search for what gives meaning to our lives and what we hold onto in times of despair and life changing challenges.’ - Khadija Saye To most of you, Grenfell Tower won't ring any bells. To Londoners, its mention immediately evokes a raging blaze, a preventable tragedy, and the tragic loss of 72 innocent lives, the victims of social inequality and injustice. Khadija Saye, 24 years

"I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera." Gordon Parks (1912-2006) Throughout his over six decade-long career, Parks used his camera to give a voice to those who didn't have one and to address inequities, documenting social injustice and all forms of discrimination. These images are from the Segregation in the South series that he shot in 1956 for a Life Magazine

Luxembourg-born Edward Steichen is one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. He was one of the founders of the Photo-Secession, a movement that promoted the idea that photography was not just about accurately reproducing the world, but also about creating artistic imagery. Steichen and his peers adopted a more 'painterly' approach to photography using filters and soft focus to express their creativity and manipulate their images. Steichen, who had trained