Susan Sontag in her essay On Photography states that photography is non-interventionist and that it perpetuates the status quo. This is perhaps true in its most literal interpretation. The purpose of my recent assignment to Yemen, however, was to raise awareness of the country’s humanitarian crisis and raise funds for Mercy Corps.
Mercy Corps is one of The Times’s chosen charities for this year’s Christmas appeal and I was asked to travel to Yemen with Catherine Philp, the diplomatic correspondent, to report on the charity’s work.
During a 15-day stay, we travelled extensively across the country. From the mountainous Houthi-controlled north, through Yemen’s high mountains decorated with agricultural terraces and mountain top villages, to the semi desert areas of the south. We went north