Human Rights Human Wrongs: The Photography Of Oppression

Tabish Khan
By Tabish Khan Last edited 110 months ago
Human Rights Human Wrongs: The Photography Of Oppression ★★★★☆ 4
This starving, begging child in Biafra (now Nigeria) is one of many images with a heavy emotional impact on the viewer. Carlo Bavagnoli, 1968.
This starving, begging child in Biafra (now Nigeria) is one of many images with a heavy emotional impact on the viewer. Carlo Bavagnoli, 1968.
This image of Martin Luther King is one of several in the exhibition accompanied by video excerpts of his most notable speeches. Bob Fitch, 1968.
This image of Martin Luther King is one of several in the exhibition accompanied by video excerpts of his most notable speeches. Bob Fitch, 1968.
The 1963 Birmingham, Alabama protests over the segregation of whites and blacks resulted in black students being attacked by dogs and sprayed with fire hoses. Charles Moore, 1963.
The 1963 Birmingham, Alabama protests over the segregation of whites and blacks resulted in black students being attacked by dogs and sprayed with fire hoses. Charles Moore, 1963.
An image capturing the moment King Baudouin of Belgium's sword is stolen from his car as he arrives with the president of Congo. Robert Lebeck, 1960.
An image capturing the moment King Baudouin of Belgium's sword is stolen from his car as he arrives with the president of Congo. Robert Lebeck, 1960.
European photographs also feature, including this one of the Prague Spring -- the political liberalisation of Czechoslovakia. Hilmar Pabel, 1968.
European photographs also feature, including this one of the Prague Spring -- the political liberalisation of Czechoslovakia. Hilmar Pabel, 1968.
Even today, Marxist Che Guevara's legacy lives on and it is both revered and reviled by opposing camps. Osvaldo Salas, 1962.
Even today, Marxist Che Guevara's legacy lives on and it is both revered and reviled by opposing camps. Osvaldo Salas, 1962.

Londonist Rating: ★★★★☆

One of the most important documents in existence is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which entitles every citizen of the world to live a life free of slavery, torture, inequality and prejudice of any kind.

This hard hitting set of photographs captures the struggles to attain these rights, in the face of violence committed by those who would deny them. The US features heavily in this exhibition covering the free speech protests at Berkeley University, the race riots in Birmingham, Alabama, and the arrest of Martin Luther King — as well as video excerpts from some of his most powerful speeches.

Human Rights Human Wrongs covers issues across the world too, including a sign marking out the segregation of a South African beach, photos of the divisive revolutionary Che Guevara, and starving children in Africa.

The most powerful images here are the hardest to look at, whether it be an abandoned corpse in a Warsaw ghetto, dead babies laid out after a US bombing of North Vietnam or the well known immolation of a monk in protest against the war in Vietnam.

This is not a light exhibition, but if approached with the gravity it deserves, it serves as an important reminder of what so many have sacrificed, in order to achieve the basic rights that should be afforded to all humans, and how important it is to ensure these rights continue to be preserved.

Human Rights Human Wrongs is on at The Photographer's Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street W1F 7LW, until 6 April. Entrance is free.

For other art exhibitions in London, see our top 10 for February.

Last Updated 12 February 2015

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