No filtering of the truth

The adage 'the camera doesn't lie' may have lost its currency in today's airbrushed, digitally enhanced world, but there's no denying the power of a photograph when it dares to tell the truth. Some such images become iconic - Nick Ut's picture of a naked nine-year-old girl fleeing a napalm strike hit straight into the heart of US public opinion on Vietnam, while Joe Rosenthal's shot of Marines hoisting the US flag on Iwo Jima became a ubiquitous propaganda tool in the drive to sell war bonds at home.

Not every photographer who points their lens into the inhospitable corners of the globe receives such attention, however. There are too many whose work is banned, hidden away or quite flagrantly manipulated, whether for political expediency or through some misguided attempt to protect our sensibilities.

From Haiti to Tiananmen Square to the trenches of World War I, Underexposed II aims to make us acknowledge what really happened - even if we flinch from the horror of the truth. Whether focusing on torture, murder, human or animal rights abuses, these are images that will force you to reconsider your view of the world - and may inspire you to start asking awkward questions of those in power. That's why you haven't seen them before - and that's why you should see them now.

Underexposed is on until June 2, Proud Camden Moss, 10 Greenlands Street NW1, daily 10am to 7pm, £3, £2 concs.

Tel: 020 7839 4942
Visit www.proud.demon.co.uk
Tube: Camden Town