I was instantly captivated by Jeremy Snell’s sparse, hypnotic images of young Ghanaians fishing in a lake. The story behind them is heartbreaking. Boys as young as six are forced to fish, using their small and nimble hands to untangle nets. Rising at 4am every day to set the nets, they are denied the chance of an education, and ultimately a childhood. The innocence portrayed in these images—through the use of warm, diffused light and muted tones—makes them all the more deceptive. We are well used to stereotypical images of Africa as a deprived or exotic continent, but the approach here is different. While the photographs are seemingly beautiful and exotic, the mood of solitude and loneliness is overwhelming. The photographs appear richly cinematic while at the same time reminding us that for some, there is no happy ending.

By focusing on wax print fabric—a form with roots in Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Javanese, Dutch and African traditions, Yemeni-Bosnian artist Alia Ali has created a portrait of various cultures at crossroads. In her series FLUX, photographs with a heady visual impact simultaneously approach dense topics: how politics, economics and histories collide in fabric patterns and techniques. Her series identifies sitters solely by abstracted tunic, headdress and backdrop, placing the colonized African identity in the forefront. Textiles evoke the everyday, and yet in her hands they act as poetic signifiers referencing migration, imperialism, ownership, and who has voice.

Gloria Oyarzabal created a compelling project that powerfully connects the past to the present through photographs and archived images. Exploring the practices of gender history and knowledge-making, Woman Go No’gree is a thought-provoking and insightful project that confronts the impact of African colonialism on our idea of femininity, reminding us that gender is a sociocultural Western construction. She invite us to rethink new ways of looking.

This image stood out to me, above all the others. It’s not a portrait in the traditional sense, to me it tells a story but in just one image. There is a certain air of calm about the photo, the subject is obviously in a pensive meditative prayer state, there is an obvious and also subtle vulnerability to the image too, the fact that he doesn’t have a Kippah on his head, along with him also being bare chested or naked. There is a reflective element to the image that is obvious with him being in water, but there are so many subtle references and stories going on within the image, I could stare at it for ages and still not feel as though I knew everything about it.

I was immediately drawn to its mysterious and poetic sensibility, the quiet tension in the composition, the shapes and patterns, and its psychological atmosphere. It is subtly revealing, saying much about what is unseen, and for me, represents a thoughtful, alternative approach to portraiture.

Marieke van der Velden’s photo series “Dutch Matryoshka’s” brings back memories of flipping through family photo albums or visiting a home with a wall of family portraits shot through the years. Bringing together five generations of women from one family is impressive enough, but she’s photographed eight families like this! Her images welcome the viewer into these women’s homes, allowing us to appreciate their different environments and unique details in each setting. Her images have a warm and genuine feeling that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This photograph is a portrayal of love and tenderness between a mother and a daughter or perhaps two sisters. Each is covered only by a headdress, which can also be interpreted as a bandage. They are beautiful and serene and intimately together. Their eyes are closed as if in prayer or meditation with their heads creating a heart-shape. The soft lighting and simple grey backdrop help the viewer focus on the giving and receiving of love, the true healer.

These portraits of people who live in Naples feel as if they could have been made on the set of a movie. Each character comes to life in a single frame, and seemingly sets the stage for an intriguing narrative. The portraits are beautifully lit and composed, and they capture a range of attitudes and personalities that seem real and memorable.