The Actionists is a call to action to everyone in South Africa. It is a challenge to look outwardly, get involved and change the lives of people around you.

Activism isn't just about showing a problem, it’s about engaging the right audience and giving them a way to get involved. We do this by creating relevant, compelling imagery; combining it with carefully constructed text, and placing it in the right publications.

Photography can often feel frustrating when you put all your effort in, but it just doesn’t pay off. I know that you have got this far with a fair amount of willpower, self-motivation, and learning from your mistakes. Taking consistently powerful environmental portraits is well within your reach.

In August 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, I traveled around South Africa to photograph healthcare workers in every province of the country. We wanted to celebrate the great work that they were doing, under enormous pressure, whilst also keeping ourselves and our subjects safe.

In all my years of meeting people and hearing their stories, I have rarely come across anyone as remarkable as Isaac Raphael Rabin. The ease with which he dictates his harrowing journey makes me wonder whether he has no idea of the hardships that he has lived through; or whether his is a story so unremarkable within the world of the refugee system that it is only from the outside that it seems almost unbelievable.

Taking photographs is easy, anyone with a half-decent smartphone can do it. So how do you become a great photographer?
The answer is simper than you might think…