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PHOTOGRAPHY What it is to be human

A new photography book provides stunning reminders of what connects us all, says VAUGHAN MELZER

Portrait of Humanity 2020, Vol 2
(Hoxton Mini Press, £22.95)

THE 200 portraits in this book — a collaboration between 1854 Media and publishers Hoxton Mini Press — are an unashamed celebration of global humanity.

Its subjects look out at the viewer enigmatically, evoking questions about equality, human love, friendship, tragedy and humour.

The pictures, accompanied by short texts from the photographers, tell complex and sometimes paradoxical stories.

The striking Cuban ballet dancer Rolando, poised balletically, surely longs to be seen in the wider world and, while the viewer may be aware of the US embargo, it’s an image that throws a light on the great frustrations for young people whose natural longing to explore different worlds is stymied.

Courageous Celina, sole Ebola survivor of her family, stands among the slums of Freetown’s waterfront, her face full of sadness and hope.

She has an ambition to become a doctor to protect and prevent people suffering but, with high odds stacked against her, will she achieve her dream?

A young Tibetan nomad child, the plains and mountains behind her, regards us almost angrily. The text tells us that the Chinese are urging her people to resettle in permanent housing communities.

A stunning picture of a Mongolian boy, aged about 15 and described as a horse keeper, is titled Le Petit Prince.

His dress looks royal — turquoise tunic, high collar, gold belt and knee-high leather boots — yet they are grubby, as everyday clothes are.

In stately fashion, he stands on a rock, mountains behind him, with a sunrise casting a warm glow across the landscape lighting the boy’s face — a peasant prince.

Sexual love in the elderly is still taboo, suggesting something unnatural or disgusting about sensuality in older people but that is challenged in the image of a German couple in their eighties, lying naked in bed and holding each other tenderly.

Another black-and-white photo shows an 80-year-old grandmother sitting casually on her bed, semi-naked.

The Dutch photographer explains how much her grandmother has taught her about equality and independence.

In Myanmar, orphaned six-year-old twin girls in identical frocks look out of the page with an  astonishing, serious determination.

One wants to be a footballer or boxer, her sister to be a singer or an actress. One longs to know the outcome for them.

Suresh Kumar, a lonely guard on the Pakistan border has his beloved dog doing a silly trick for the camera: “I love her. She makes my days better,” he declares poignantly.

Each picture is both spontaneous yet deliberately caught by the photographers at a key moment in action, expression or place.

Together, they are reminder of so much that we all have in common whatever our language, colour or nationality.

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