A celebration of demonstration — visual activism
Wayne Campbell, Wacfo Publishing, £50

WAYNE CAMPBELL is an acclaimed photographer, award-winning filmmaker and graphic designer. As a photographer his work has allowed him to capture many special moments, including behind the scenes images on film sets, as a unit photographer for Channel 4 and even snapping the occasional celebrity. Although that work “was creative, stimulating and paid the bills,” he says, it clearly didn’t satisfy him as a recently politicised artist. 

In 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd killing and Black Lives Matter campaigns, he fell deeply into what he calls “visual activism.” “My lens was awoken from its digital fog, allowing me to emotionally express my world,” he says. 

This album is a moving record of his work covering the demonstrations in London, in support of the Palestinian people and their struggle for justice. It is a stunning collection of almost entirely black and white, close-up portraits of those taking part in the demonstrations. He has a keen eye for those special moments when a face expresses something out of the ordinary: extreme anger, sorrow, joy and passion, as well as of reflection and meditation.