Renowned fashion photographer Rankin, together with Oxfam Ireland, today launched his exhibition of photos of people caught up in the war zones of Congo.
Rankin, who is known for his celebrity portraits of celebrities and models like Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue, took photos of the residents of Mugunga camp, which is home to 17,000 people displaced by the violence in Congo.
The Dublin exhibition consists of 32 images mounted on 7ft stands and will be in the Wolfe Tone Park beside the Jervis Centre for about three months. On O’Connell St opposite the GPO there will be 3 metre high light boxes with images from the exhibition. The exhibition will move to Belfast after showing in Dublin.
Of the photographs, Rankin said: “I think we have become anesthetised to traditional photographs of conflict victims. By taking my celebrity portraiture style of photography and applying it to the survivors in the camps in Congo I have tried to get beyond the statistics and show the human side of the conflict.
“It is crazy that we hear nothing about the Democratic Republic of Congo. The level of suffering there is horrendous, but it hardly makes the news. I heard awful stories of young girls being raped and people fleeing attacks on their villages. Despite the suffering that they have been through the people of Congo are just like us and need our help. I hope the exhibition will wake people up to what is going on.”
Oxfam Ireland who are hosting the exhibition hope it will raise awareness of the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Oxfam’s work in camps for the millions of displaced people.
To make a donation to Oxfam Ireland's DRC appeal, please go to www.oxfamireland.org, text DRC to 51500 (standard text rate applies) or call 1850 30 40 55 (roi) and 0800 0 30 40 55 (NI)
To view a gallery of the images click here.
For more coverage of the event visit: www.rte.ie/rankin
