94. Photographs That Change the World: with Maryam Eisler, Mahaneela and Kwabena Sekyi Appiah-nti

Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House

This episode we’re looking at how photography has the power to change attitudes and is increasingly blurring the lines between fashion and art. We talk to two young photographers. Mahaneela and Kwabena Sekyi Appiah-nti, exhibiting at The New Black Vanguard, which runs at the Saatchi Gallery till late January. The exhibition is curated by writer, critic and editor, Antwaun Sargent, is sponsored by Burberry and focuses on fashion portraiture that celebrates black culture.

We chat to Maryam Eisler, the Iranian-born photographer whose exhibition ‘If Only These Walls Could Talk’ is at the Alon Zakaim Fine Art Gallery on Cork Street. Her photographs are set in the gorgeous, world-famous hotel Nord-Pinus in Arles in the South of France, which she’s used as a beautiful and glamorous setting to celebrate the beauty and sensuality of the female form.

We discuss both exhibitions and have a fascinating conversation about the responsibility that photographers feel to document political shifts and current affairs and celebrate the power photography has, particularly via social media, to shift perceptions and ultimately change the world.