Visual record on every field of human experience

THE five thousand days that have passed since the collapse of communism in 1989, as recorded by members of the British Photographers Association, have been vividly conveyed in this compelling collection of images.

Providing a visual record on every field of human experience, the world's leading photographers cover from pop artists to protestors and from the frontline to the touchline.

Leafing through its 300 glossy pages bears out the observation that despite saturation coverage of events by television, the still image has the power of endurance. As former editor of The Northern Echo Harold Evans notes in his illuminating foreword to the book: "The written word may be quickly out of date - old news is an oxymoron. But old photographs can hold our attention."

Mr Evans sets out to explain why and how the collection is so much more than the sum of its parts, picking out a small selection and explaining why they have their impact.

One photograph captures the tears of anguish of a Sarajevo mother as she prepares to send her child out of the besieged city on a bus, another depicts the pain of a woman surrounded by her dead relatives in Grozny. Here are bloody footprints in the snow following a Russian attack on the city and the poignant picture of a pair of discarded shoes in a ghost town near Chernobyl.

The book includes some fascinating portraits and touches on the lighter side of life. Included is the award-winning photograph by The Northern Echo's Stuart Boulton of pop idol of Ronan Keating signing Tt-shirts in a radio studio, watched through a window by teenagers who have been waiting hours to see him.

An exhibition of a selection of the photographs has just opened at the Bradford Industrial Museum, Moorside Road, Bradford.

Published: 08/02/2005