From Congo with Love

An exhibition focusing on the love and solidarity found in one of the world’s worst conflict zones.

A collaboration between Oxfam and portrait photographer Rankin, the exhibition is inspired by the untold compassion of ordinary people surviving ongoing conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Eastern Congo is one of the most violent places in the world. Two million people are displaced, but the majority don’t live in camps. Instead, they live with families who have opened their homes to those who have lost everything – in many cases complete strangers. Rankin met host families who were housing one to three other families in small, two-roomed homes.
As well as looking at the kindness shown by Congo’s host families, the portraits focus on other forms of love found in Congo, such as romantic love, mother’s love and the pain of love lost.

The portraits were taken on Rankin’s second trip to Congo in late 2009, with the people photographed against the same trademark white background that Rankin uses with celebrity clients, such as Kate Moss and the Queen.