Andy Worthington’s photos

Photos from, and my review of the wonderful WOMAD world music festival that took place from July 25 to 28 in the grounds of Charlton Park in Wiltshire. I’ve been attending WOMAD every year since 2002 as part of my wife’s community arts group, Dot to Dot, in which we entertain the children in the festival’s World of Children area, where, this year, we charmed the kids with a giant bee figure, Queenie. Amongst the extraordinary musicians who lifted my soul this year were DAM, the Palestinian hip-hop group featuring the rapper Tamer Nafar, Nana Benz du Togo, a brilliant five-piece voodoo feminist group, the Senegalese legend Baaba Maal, and a multi-generational highlife band from Ghana.

My report about, and photos from the UK Guantánamo Network’s march and rally for the closure of Guantánamo in London on Saturday (January 20). Dozens of campaigners in orange jumpsuits and hoods marched up Whitehall from the Houses of Parliament to Trafalgar Square, where the rally was held, with speakers including Apsana Begum MP and myself, and afterwards a letter was handed in to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street.

Celebrating 2,400 days since I first began posting photos and essays about London as ‘The State of London’ on Facebook (and later on X), and seeking donations to enable me to continue this unique photo-journalistic project, in which, as I describe it, I look at “London’s history, its social housing, its takeover, in recent decades, by predatory capitalism, the changing seasons, forgotten corners, rivers, hills and canals, parks and graveyards, seats of power, poverty and protests.”

My report about, and photos from this year’s WOMAD world music festival in Wiltshire, where, as usual, there was some excellent music from around the world — with my favourites this year being Mokoomba, Souad Massi and Horace Andy, and with a non-musical highlight being an appearance by the great Michael Rosen.

Photos from, and my report about the eleven coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on June 7, 2023 in locations including London, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Detroit, Brussels, Copenhagen, Mexico City, Morocco, Serbia and the Netherlands. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men (out of the 30 still imprisoned) who have been approved for release but are still held — as of June 7, between 257 and 4,884 days since the US authorities first decided that they no longer wanted to hold them.

Marking the 11th anniversary of ‘The State of London’, my ongoing photo-journalism project recording the changing face of the capital, with a fundraiser seeking your support for what is an entirely reader-funded project. Over the years, I have particularly focused on the blight of ‘regeneration’ programmes, whilst also celebrating London’s astonishing history of buildings, its nature and its history of protest, although the latter is now being challenged in an unprecedented manner.

Photos from, and my report about the eight coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on May 3, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C., New York, Mexico City, Brussels, Copenhagen, Detroit and Los Angeles. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men still held (out of 30 in total) who have been approved for release but, in 13 cases, cannot be repatriated because of US laws, and must be found new homes in third countries.

Photos from, and my report about the eight coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on April 5, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C., New York, Mexico City, Brussels, Los Angeles, Raleigh, NC and Cobleskill, NY. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 17 men still held (out of 31 in total) who have been approved for release but have no idea when, if ever, they will actually be freed.

Photos of, and my report about the coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on March 8, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C. New York and Mexico City. As it was also International Women’s Day, Victoria Brittain, Yvonne Ridley and Kate Hudson of CND spoke at the London vigil, and this article also includes the text of the powerful and poignant speech made by Victoria Brittain.

Photos and a report about the first coordinated protests calling for the closure of Guantánamo, and for the release of the 20 men approved for release from the prison, in London and Washington, D.C. on February 15, 2023. More coordinated protests, involving other locations. will be taking place on Wednesday March 8.