We Are Congo (With Print)

First edition of We Are Congo by Ian Rankin

First Impress

Large format hardback in near fine condition

Accompanied by 25 cm x 20 cm (10" x 8") print in mint condition with signed certificate of authenticity

The book has slight shelf wear to outer edges of cover

Please see photos for reference

About

In 2008 and 2009, Oxfam worked with celebrity photographer Rankin on a photo project in the war-torn eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The result is a book of images, "We are Congo," that reveals the humanity of people caught in a brutal war and the devastating disease and malnutrition it has spawned.

“I first visited the DRC with Oxfam in June 2008. I expected to be depressed. I had done my homework; the statistics were horrific. I could only imagine what the human face of those statistics would look like. The people I met confounded my expectations. I met fathers, mothers, children... all getting on with life, making it through, even having a laugh and a joke. These people didn't see themselves as victims, despite the bad hand that fate had dealt them. They were human beings, exactly the same as you and me.

I wanted my portraits to do something different. The West has been anaesthetised to traditional pictures of disaster zones. My style of portraiture is always about bringing people out of themselves, getting them to share something. I chose to photograph the people against a stark white background instead of in their physical environment. The expressions in their eyes and on their faces—their humanity—was what I wanted people to notice and relate to...." Rankin