Newly published book ‘Bittersweet: A Story of Food and Yemen’ looks at the food and humanity of region whose narrative is so often dominated by conflict. Around a year ago, photographer Sayed Asif Mahmud was in At Turbah, a town near the south coast of Yemen, when a “very old” local woman invited him into her home, offering to prepare him a meal. Inside, he watched as she simmered a rich beef broth in a traditional stone pot, stirred in a fragrant fenugreek paste, presenting him with a hot, hearty bowl of salta – Yemen’s national dish. “I’m not [usually] a big fan of food, it’s more of a surv ..read more

A new exhibition showcases the artist’s revolutionary seven-decade career, including groundbreaking series “The Incredibles”. In January 1967, Timothy Leary stood before a crowd of 20,000 in Golden State Park, spreading the word, “Turn on, tune in, drop out”, a nod to the flowering use of psychedelics like mushrooms and LSD. That May, San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) hit the charts, while musicians Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jerry Garcia could readily be found on the streets of the city’s Haight Asbury district where they lived. Heeding the call, over 100,000 Ame ..read more

For almost two decades, photographer Alec Gill made pictures of Hessle Road’s vibrant community, in the face of a declining trawling industry and regeneration programmes. When Alec Gill was growing up in post-war Hull during the 1950s, he used to be picked on by others at school. Shorter in height than most of his peers, they thought he would be an easy target, until he wasn’t. “I’m small – I don’t know if I’m even 5ft 2in,” he says. “When you’re at school you’re attractive to bullies, but the thing was I used to stand up to the bullies and fight back, which for some reason they didn’t like ..read more

Charlie Kwai is living proof that you don’t need to be obsessed with craft or top of the range equipment to take great photos. For the Londoner, it’s simply about being curious – and getting really, really close. “Why are you taking my picture?’’ demands a surly, middle-aged woman after street photographer Charlie Kwai puts a camera up in her face and hits click. “I had to”, he replies, full of mischievous charm. “Your face brightened up the morning.” It’s fair to say that when it comes to taking photos, Charlie’s approach is direct – almost confrontational. With the Londoner’s work, there’s ..read more

After fleeing persecution in central Africa in 2005, Kolbassia Haoussou MBE arrived in the UK and was immediately detained in conditions that terrified him. Once I’d arrived in the UK, having fled my home country and escaped torture, I was taken to Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre. The people in charge didn’t tell me where I was going, I was bundled into what looked like a prison van, and we drove for what felt like hours. I soon realised something was very wrong. When we finally got there, it was late at night. I was tired, I was very sick, and I was bleeding. I was frightened ..read more

Photographer Mary Frey crafts a captivating chronicle of late 20th century American life that exists somewhere between reality, metaphor, and myth. Growing up in Yonkers, photographer Mary Frey remembers standing on a hill with a sparkling view of the New York skyline in the distance. The city beckoned with promises untold. As the oldest of six children, Frey understood responsibility from a young age. She studied painting at the Hudson River Museum until happening upon a copy of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s The Decisive Moment in the library. “That was it. I wanted to be a photographer,” say ..read more

Emma Garland reflects on what we can learn from this years’ edition of Coachella festival – the canary in the coal mine of US pop culture. Hi, I’m Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck and current writer about town. In this monthly digest I’ll be dealing with some of the biggest cultural issues of the moment – from the flailing state of the creative industries and how they’re being reshaped by technology, to the relationship between art and activism in an age when everything is politics. Let’s have it. Emma Garland Is it just me, or did it feel like Coachella was back this year? And b ..read more

In her new photo book ‘ Renegades, San Francisco: The 1990s’ Chloe Sherman documents queer resistance and joy. In 1990, a then 21-year-old Chloe Sherman stumbled across a photo book that would completely alter her life’s trajectory. She had recently moved to Portland, Oregon from the east coast, but the pictures in Della Grace’s (AKA Del LaGrace Volcano) Love Bites, gave her itchy feet. “Back then, it was harder to experience the world unless you showed up and arrived – maybe I had seen photos of hippies and the Golden Gate Park, [but] there wasn’t Google Images or Instagram,” Sherman recalls ..read more

Emma Garland welcomes the long overdue return of original storytelling - and perhaps the death of the endless sequel and reboot era. Hi, I’m Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck and current writer about town. In this monthly digest I’ll be dealing with some of the biggest cultural issues of the moment – from the flailing state of the creative industries and how they’re being reshaped by technology, to the relationship between art and activism in an age when everything is politics. Let’s have it. Emma Garland Are we approaching a turning point for cultural storytelling? A few signs po ..read more

Hundreds gathered yesterday to call for the BBC and UK Eurovision hopeful Olly Alexander to boycott the singing competition next month. Last night, April 25th, 200 people gathered outside of the BBC in central London calling on the broadcaster and the UK's Eurovision contestant Olly Alexander to boycott this year’s song contest in solidarity with Palestinians. The protest came after the European Broadcasting Union announced Israel would continue to be allowed to participate in the Eurovision song contest despite calls for the country to be barred. Groups in participating countries a ..read more