Henry Wilkins

In May 2016 Vice News commissioned a story from Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp, situated on Kenya's border with Somalia. The Kenyan government had recently announced plans to close the camp as it represented a national security threat. I spoke to refugees about their reaction to the announcement. You can read the original here.

Child Gold Miners in Africa Have to Deal With Floods, Collapse, and Now, Al Qaeda - 'Vice News'

In August 2020, I did a piece for VICE news on the children stuck working in Burkina Faso’s gold mines, as terrorists spread across the country. I visited a mine in Burkina Faso’s north just a few miles from where terrorists are active. You can read the full article here.

A collection of images taken in various corners of the globe, including Burkina Faso, UK, Mongolia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya and France. You can take a look at my account here.

A 'Prelude to Famine?' is a personal project I shot when in Malawi and Zambia covering Southern Africa's drought for the Economist and Vice News. You can see excerpts from the project on Barcroft Media here.

In March 2020, I profiled the prominent Burkinabe vigilante, Boureima Nadbanka, who had recently been accused of orchestrating the Yirgou Massacre, which killed as many as 200 people. You can read the full article here.

This was a commission from the Daily Telegraph about the drought affecting Africa. I also shot the pictures for this one. You can read the full article here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

A piece I wrote for the 'New Statesman' after trying to uncover the origins of a rouge branch of the FBI in Crystal Palace. On the way I discover how some PIs use fake beards, entrapment and "sexpionage" in their line of work while others try to shake this image entirely. Take a look at some of the photos from the project or read the full article here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In June 2016 I visited South Sudan for around 12 days. The WFP helped me to visit Northern Bahr el Gazal, an area of the country that has recently fallen into "phase 4" on the IPC scale, used by governments and NGOs to measure food insecurity. I followed the story of one family over the course of two days and used this to relate the wider narrative of a region close to famine. You can see the full story here.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

‘Look Up: Reacting to UAVs in the Urban Environment’ is a photography project which was designed to engage people with the proliferation of UAVs by literally confronting them with the new technology. We collected interviews as well as DSLR and aerial photographs, some of which were merged into diptychs.

The project was published by Vice in the UK and US, the British Journal of Photography, Fltr Magazine and the Belgian newspaper De Standaard.

In February 2016 I was sent down to Southern Africa by Vice News and another international publication to cover the drought. I worked closely with the UNHCR on this piece to expose the effects of drought on some of Malawi's most vulnerable people. It was the leading story on Vice News for International Women's Day 2016. You can see the full article here.

In September 2018 I traveled to Mongolia with The FAO and the Swiss Development Agency to see what Mongolia’s nomadic herders are doing to save the steppe from degradation by climate change and animal overpopulation. You can see the full article here.

In December 2016 I visited the former Boko Haram stronghold of Borno State in Northeast Nigeria, undergoing a severe food crisis in the wake of the Islamist insurgency. You can see

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In April 2020, I reported on Ramadan in coronavirus and violence hit Burkina Faso. For many muslim IDPs, Ramadan had ceased to be a joyous time. Iftahs had become painful reminders of how little they had to eat. You can read the full article here.

In September 2014 I visited the Calais Migrant Camp with the writer and journalist James Rippingale. We met with many of the migrants who live in the camp known as the 'Jungle,' close to the port. We wanted to document a more human side to the people who are risking their lives to make it to the UK by any means possible, something we felt was lacking from the media coverage of the subject.

We created a "pop up" photo studio in the Sudanese part of the Jungle. Using 120mm film and a Hasselblad 500ELX, I captured portraits of many of the migrants. Part of the photo project, alongside James Rippingale's stories on how the migrants came to be in Calais, was published by the 'New Internationalist'.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

In November 2014 James Rippingale and I spent the day at the Romanian embassy in London. It was election day in Romania and many of the diaspora from across the UK had come to cast their vote. Most of them were trying to make sure the current Prime Minister, Ponta, didn't become president. Click here for the full article.

© Henry Wilkins 2016

This is a project I did for a week long assignment when studying on Central St. Martin's Reportage Course. Hugo at  Black Hand Foods in Autumn Street Hackney Wick allowed me access to his unit where he creates cured meats.

© Henry Wilkins 2016