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Jonathan Banks' St Albans photo exhibition urges people to make a difference

Jonathan Banks Jonathan Banks with his exhibition in St Albans CathedralJonathan Banks
Jonathan Banks' exhibition at St Albans Cathedral celebrates a career working with charities in some of the poorest parts of the world

A humanitarian photographer has returned to his home town to show a collection of his work.

Jonathan Banks' exhibition at St Albans Cathedral celebrates a career working with charities in some of the poorest parts of the world.

He hopes it will encourage people to look for opportunities to make a difference.

"I wanted to present an enlightening, empowering image of the world," he said.

Jonathan Banks Embu farm, Sainsbury's in AfricaJonathan Banks
Banks said there were a lot of smiles in his pictures and he "always believes in the human spirit"

Banks, originally from St Albans, studied photography at the University of Derby and has more than 25 years' experience.

Having cut his teeth in editorial photography and freelancing for the Daily Telegraph plus various agencies, he said he "got frustrated with sensational news".

He has since collaborated with charitable organisations and non-governmental organisations on campaigns documenting humanitarian and human rights concerns.

Jonathan Banks A boy from a crowd retrieves his ball from the shadow of armed security at the Liberia National Peace and Cultural Festival in MonroviaJonathan Banks
A boy from a crowd retrieves his ball from the shadow of armed security at the Liberia National Peace and Cultural Festival in Monrovia

In more than 80 countries, he has captured subjects as diverse as mask-dancing festivals in Burkina Faso, the effects of the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine and the aftermath of 9/11 in New York.

The cathedral exhibition is entitled Enrich Me with Your Difference, an old African idea that means that whenever you come across something new, you should put all the differences together with your knowledge, understanding and emotional response to build something positive.

He said that although many of the subjects in this exhibition were photographed in some of the poorest countries in the world, he was "always looking for hope".

"If you look at a lot of the photographs, there are a lot of smiles in the pictures and I'm always believing in the human spirit," he said.

Jonathan Banks DelAgua Rwanda ProjectJonathan Banks
Banks worked with DelAgua at the beginning of its carbon credit project called Tubeho Neza (Live Well), travelling in Rwanda to photograph distribution days and community health worker visits

While he believes there is always hope, he said he also "calls out charities to not just do the same thing all the time".

"A lot of them are just photographing poor people in black and white, a mother with a baby in arms and people shut off," he said.

"You think they are somewhere very far away, they've got nothing to do with me, and think 'I would help them if they were a neighbour but they're not', so you kind of just close down.

"What I try and do is humanise the person in the photograph, so we empathise with them and then we're more likely to give them support. I try and tell a personal story."

Enrich Me with Your Difference can be seen at St Albans Cathedral until 3 May.

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