When “Images of Darfur” photographer Jon Nicholson went with the UN Population Fund to the Sudan, he recalls seeing

Huge camps filled with people , you would think they would be safe, but they are turning into places where acts of violence take place… Hijackings of vehicles, attacks on camps… It’s coming at you from all sides… And the sensation that something can happen anytime anywhere is scary.

And yet, Nichols didn’t want to show images “that shock. I want the viewer to see the beauty and then reflect on the issue that is Darfur.”

Though beauty and genocide may seem contradictory, it is this very balance between the beauty and the tragedy, the “shock” and the almost tranquil photographs, which make the images so effective. It conveys the urgency and trauma of Darfur and the humanity of its victims, without forcing the viewer to turn away or recoil into a state of inaction, and passivity.

How does Nicolson do it? Look at the online exhibit. And when you’re done, and tell your representative to support the Women’s Health and Dignity Act.

Learn more about Darfur and the United Nations Population Fund