5 August - 30 September SEAN SMITH : Frontlines

Acclaimed war photographer Sean Smith has covered all the major conflicts of the past few years, from the Middle East to the Congo. Frontlines brings together some of his finest work, and offers both a chronicle of major flashpoints and a unique insight into modern warfare and its aftermath.

Starting with the violence that erupted on the streets of Bethlehem in 2000, when Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli soldiers, Smith moves on to provide fascinating and poignant glimpses of life in Afghanistan before the US-led campaign and then the grim realities of the military onslaught and Taliban insurgency that followed. He bears witness to the devastation wrought in Lebanon by the Israeli bombardment of 2006, and the scenes of chaos in the Congo as the government clashed with Tutsi rebels.

But it is to Iraq, the most politically divisive conflict of modern times, that Smith returns again and again. He shows us society striving to hold itself together in the months leading up to the invasion of 2003. He follows the progress of the troops battling against opposition and sectarian attack. And he records the Sunni uprising of 2007 and the US military surge that sought to contain them.

This is an extraordinary record of over a decade of conflict, and a worthy contribution to the great tradition of war photography.

Although Sean Smith was always interested in photography, he never studied it formally. In his early career he worked as a freelance photographer covering a wide range of issues including the Miners' Strike, Handsworth Riots, Broadwater Farm and the Brixton Riots. Early assignments included the Times, Reuters and Time Magazine. After a brief stint as a paparazzo, he joined the Guardian in 1988 and since then has worked in all areas of photojournalism.

In addition to stills photography, Smith now shoots video on most of his assignments and received the Royal Television Society Award for Best International News (Iraq) in 2008.

Image: Anbar Province, Iraq, 2005, © Sean Smith

In association with Guardian News and Media  

Sean Smith is currently covering the conflict in Libya:  

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/aug/30/libya-tripoli-gaddafi-compound-fall

Opening Times:

Kings Place Gallery / Bookshop / Balcony North Gallery:

Monday - Friday 10 am - 6 pm Saturday - Sunday 12 am - 6 pm

GALLERY CLOSED BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY 29 AUGUST

Admission free

Telephone: 020 7520 1485

Fax: 020 7520 1487

Email: kpg@kingsplace.co.uk