Photographer - and witness - Robin Hammond

Ex-pat Photographer Robin Hammond focuses his camera on people who live on the margins - the mentally ill, the LGBTI community, refugees and other victims of war. His multi-award winning images are often unnervingly candid, capturing suffering and hardship in a single unforgettable shot. But they're also images of courage, resilience and survival against the odds. His not-for-profit organization is called Witness Change. Robin Hammond spent time documenting daily life in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe's iron fist, in Congo and Bosnia where rape's used as a weapon of war, while in Croatia residents of a once antiquated mental asylum are now living better lives in the community. Robin's just been home as a guest of New Zealand Geographic, and to catch up with his family. He talks to Lynn Freeman about the series of photographs that started him down the track of human rights related work: