Photographer's Notes

Misan Harriman captures the world not just as it is, but as it should be. The British Nigerian photographer was the first Black man to shoot a British Vogue cover in 2020, and the first Nigerian director to earn an Oscar nomination. His images from global protest movements document the human condition in quiet, powerful frames. “The eye should learn to listen before it looks,” he says, echoing his deep-rooted approach to storytelling. His first solo show, “The Purpose of Light”, runs until September 18 at London’s Hope 93 Gallery. It features more than 100 photographs documenting movements from Grenfell, Black Lives Matter, queer rights and Palestine. It’s the culmination of years spent documenting a world of clarity, courage, and compassion that is rewriting the rules of engagement. “People are beginning to question what they’re told,” he says. “The youth are different. They don’t accept what we were forced to.” His motto, fittingly: Shoot the people.