From the riotous colour and noise of Rio to the more cerebral rhythms of Hay, festivals offer an escape route from the everyday to the urgent and boisterous celebration of harvests, music, books, tomatoes, and bog snorkelling. As we approach a summer of unprecedented festivity, images from the Corbis archive take us into the pop-up worlds of the vibrant, the sacred and the very, very odd.

In association with Corbis, the National Theatre’s Photographic Images Partner.

Exhibition opening times:
Monday – Saturday from 9.30am – 11pm
Sunday 12pm – 5.30pm (closed Sunday 22 April, 3 June)

for more information visit:
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/69720/exhibitions/festival.html

After being imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2006 I’ve been driven to document prisons in Africa.
This new article in Vice magazine features my visits to the prisons of Burundi.
(also available in English!)

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/inside-the-walls-of-hell-thomas-martin

An online version of the exhibition is available here : www.martinandmartin.eu/gallery_12starexpo/index.html

Prints £200
Editions of 12, 20/16″ archival prints

These pictures were commissioned by the NGO Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse, who are working with the pastoralists to enable them to develop long term, sustainable coping strategies.  For more information visit : www.vsf-suisse.ch

Two videos made about the subject are in the earlier post:  martinandmartin.eu/blog

A short film about the harsh effects of the drought on the nomadic communities of north east Africa. Made for VSF Suisse

The story of the production and transportation of Camel milk from the Nomadic people of north east Africa to the bustling markets of Nairobi. Made for VSF Suisse

We are pleased to be illustrating the the Penal Reform International (PRI) annual report this year. PRI work towards improving the conditions for prisoners worldwide.

For more information about their work visit: www.penalreform.org
A downloadble version of the report is available here: Annual Report 2010

For more information about the documentation of sites of incarceration visit: prisonphotography.wordpress.com

Exhibition of documentary images by photographer Tom Martin.
The Alley Cafe Bar, cannon court, longrow west, Nottingham, NG1 6JE

After training as a fine artist at Central Saint Martins Tom moved to Rwanda, initially to document sites of genocide. Post-holocaust its people evidently bare deep and sustained scars yet Rwanda as a country is beginning to recover. Tom relates to people’s stories; through his eyes we share in the evidence of that recovery through the evidence of the common human struggle to be heard and witnessed.

In 2006 Tom was imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Brief as it was, during this incarceration he experienced some of the extreme fear and isolation felt by both prisoners and the general population of the DRC.

Since this incident Tom has been driven to document these dark places, some of the most appalling environments known to humankind. Yet he’s as driven to document the beauty and vitality of this diverse continent.

For more info visit: www.lundahl-seitl.com
or: britishcouncil.org/home/lundahl-and-seitl/

(for best sound quality please use headphones)

12star Gallery 30th Nov – 30th Dec 2011
10am-6pm, Monday to Friday
Europe House
32 Smith Square
London SW1P 3EU

Documentary photographer Tom Martin works primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
Tom undertakes commissions for organisations including the EU and UN; as a photojournalist he files pictures for Associated Press and the European Press Photographers’ Association; he also provides images for tourism marketing and travel magazines, these images are not mutually exclusive.

After training as a fine artist at Central Saint Martins Tom moved to Rwanda, initially to document sites of genocide. Post-holocaust its people evidently bear deep and sustained scars yet Rwanda as a country is beginning to recover. Tom relates to people’s stories; through his eyes we share in the evidence of that recovery through the representation of the common human struggle to be heard.

In 2006 Tom was imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Brief as it was, during this incarceration he experienced some of the extreme fear and isolation felt by both prisoners and the general population of the DRC.
Since this incident Tom has been driven to document these dark places, some of the most appalling environments known to humankind. Yet he’s as driven to document the beauty and vitality of this diverse continent.

This exhibition brings together images from Tom’s EU work, documenting a diverse range of projects in east and central Africa. These images are document to the crucial human stories behind the momentous transformation of developing countries. Through the eye of a fine artist he re-presents images of state institutions and the people that inhabit them – prisoners, police, judges, soldiers with images of the rural population – people like us caught up in a rapidly changing society.

The EU is a major donor for development in the region, from building roads to good governance.

For more info visit: http://ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/information/exhibitions/index_en.htm