A portfolio of colour photographs from India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Despite 20 years of economic growth, endemic hunger continues to afflict a large proportion of the Indian population. Per-capita consumption of food-grains has decreased since 1996. The percentage of underweight children in India remained stagnant between 1998 and 2006. And for 25 years, the calorie consumption of the poorest half of the population has consistently declined. These photographs document the impact of hunger on India's rural poor, examine why malnutrition persists and look at local measures that address some of the causes of hunger.

All of the residents of Horijon Polli, a slum in Mymensingh are from the low-caste Hindu sweeper community. The community are ostracised from wider society and there are very few employment opportunities for them beyond cleaning. Oxfam are building a latrine block in Horijon Polli and are working with partners NGO Forum to support residents. With little state-support, Oxfam are working to increase the capacity of Horijon Polli residents to respond to disasters like flooding to which their neighbourhood is susceptible.

A selection of photographs of women taken while on assignment in India and Ethiopia.

Originally commissioned by The Times Magazine and UNICEF, this story developed to became a four-year project documenting the lives of two young Indian sisters who lost their mother and younger brother to the 2004 Asian Tsunami. Every child affected by the tsunami had to adapt to changed circumstances and cope with emotions no one in their family could have possibly anticipated. Grief rendered some silent, in others it provoked a real sense of anger. Some children became withdrawn while others craved attention and resorted to disruptive behavior. For all, the experience of losing a parent seemed to strengthen the bond they shared with their brothers and sisters. Vijitha and Vijyashree Viswanathan live with their father Viswanathan in a small house in the fishing village close to Cuddalore in India's Tamil Nadu state. As the years have progressed, memories of the tsunami have begun to fade but the repercussion of that terrible event continues to define the sisters' lives. Vijitha and Vijyashree now have to compete for the attention of their father since his remarriage and the birth of two more children. Vijitha takes this potential hurdle in her stride and enjoys the responsibilities of growing up. But her younger sister Vijyashree is doing poorly at school and has an air of disenchantment about her. She suffers fits and though that need not necessarily be a problem, she is treated as a fragile child and behaves accordingly. Their father Viswanathan does not enjoy regular employment as a fisherman and their new mother Kayalvizhi is illiterate and is not in a position to respond to Vijitha and Vijyashree’s emotional or educational needs.

American fashion model Dita von Teese photographed in the Maldives.

A selection of my portrait photography.

Cooperative agriculture in Ethiopia has the potential to improve women’s lives. Growing oil seeds presents challenges for the famers of Assosa in western Ethiopia. Many of the most vulnerable are forced to sell to when they cannot be guaranteed a good price for their product. Farms are often located in isolated areas which entails huge amounts of time and effort simply getting seeds to market. Many farmers do not have the resources to properly invest in their land and are tied into exploitative loan arrangements. In response to these pressures, twenty farming cooperatives have formed the Assosa Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative Union. By working together, individual farmers are able to pool their resources and squeeze out exploitative agents and brokers. The Union provides loans to constituent members together with training and advice to help farmers make better use of their land. And by collectively hiring vehicles through the Union, farmers need not spend so much time ferrying their produce to market. All these measures benefit farmers and have now provided the Assosa Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative Union the confidence to establish an oil-seed processing unit in the regional town of Assosa. With a planned annual output of over 500 tons of oil, the Assosa Edible Oil Processing Facility will create additional income that will be of direct benefit to the farmers that grow oil seeds. The processing unit will be able to transport oil to more distant markets and so insure a better return on their product. The processing plant will employ 28, half of them women. Much of the profit will be ploughed back into the cooperative to fund training and provide credit to farmers. As with oil seed production in Assosa, harvesting honey also supplements the income of small farmers in the region of Amhara where there is a long tradition of honey production. However, without the resources to properly invest in production and the continued use of of traditional, low-yielding hives, farmers have not been able to reap proper reward for their labour. The formation of the Zembaba Bee Products Development and Marketing Cooperative Union is an attempt to realize the potential of honey production in Amhara and ensure that the benefits reach small producers. By providing modern, high-yield hives, protective equipment and training to beekeepers, the Cooperative Union helps increase production and secure a steady supply of honey for which there is growing demand both in and beyond Ethiopia. The collective processing, marketing and distribution of Zembaba's "Amar" honey means that profits stay within the cooperative network of 3,500 beekeepers rather than being passed onto brokers and agents. The Union has signed an agreement with the multinational Ambrosia group to supply honey to the export market.

Photographs taken on the streets of Nigeria, India, the UK and USA.

Feminist author, journalist & activist Naomi Wolf in New York City. Wolf has written widely on feminism, sexuality and civil rights in books including The Beauty Myth, Promiscuities and The End of America. She is an outspoken supporter of causes including Occupy Wall Street and the protection of whistle-blowers like Julian Assange.

In 1991, the Indian Government liberalised its economy and launched a process of reforms that placed millions already poor farmers at the mercy of international markets. The Government's guaranteed purchase price for many Indian crops fell to a price-floor or were abandoned altogether. In Vidarbha, small-scale cotton producers who could once depend on a meagre but stable rate of return now regularly invest more money in the running of their farms than they generate in sales of cotton. This has necessarily forced many into debt, triggering uncertainty, destabilising lives and undermining development.

Many consider the India's Third Sex, also known as Aravanis, to posses special powers allowing them to determine the fate of others. As such, they are not only revered but despised and feared too. Resigned to the fringes of society, segregated and excluded from most occupations, many transgenders are forced to turn to begging and sex work in order to earn a living. This collection of photographs focuses on the annual transgender festival in the village of Koovagam, near Vilappuram, which offers an escape from this often desolate existence. For some, this week-long festival is about fulfilling lustful desires. For others, the gathering provides a chance for transgenders to bond, share experiences, join the wider homosexual gay-community and coordinate their campaign for recognition and tackle the challenge of HIV/AIDS. It is the Indian state of Tamil Nadu that the eighty-thousand-strong Aravani community has made advances in their fight for rights. In 2009, the Tamil Nadu state government began providing sex-change surgery free of cost. The state has also offers special third-gender ration cards, passports and reserved seats in colleges. And 2008 the launch of Ippudikku Rose, a Tamil talk-show fronted by India's first transgender TV-host and the release of a mainstream Tamil film staring an Aravani in the lead-role. These advances clearly signal a victory for south India's transgenders, but they have also exposed deep divisions within the community. There is a very real gulf that separates the majority poor from their potentially influential but often reticent, upper-class sisters.

The JSS (Jan Swasthya Sahyog or People's Health Support Group) is a public-health initiative established in 1996 by a handful of committed doctors all of whom trained at elite medical schools in India. While many of their peers secured high profile, high earning posts in premier hospitals in India, the US and the UK, the doctors at JSS have focussed their medical expertise on providing a service for poor and marginalised rural communities in Bilaspur district in the east Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Relying on grants and private donations, the doctors at JSS pay themselves only Rs.20,000 (US$500) a month. The JSS operate out of a hospital in Ganiyari, 25km from the main district town of Bilaspur. The JSS provide a first-class medical service for a community that would otherwise rely on underfunded and poorly resourced government facilities. Though the hospital at Ganiyari boasts 30 beds, two operating theatres, a fully-equipped lab and three outpatient clinics every week, the service provided by JSS is over-subscribed by a community totaling 800,000 people from 1,500 villages. To address the malnutrition that is so widespread among the population they serve, the JSS offers training on new agricultural techniques. The JSS has a well established outreach program of village-clinics and employs over 100 village health workers serving 53 villages. The JSS also operates an ambulance service and assists with transport costs for a rural community who's access to essential services has been undermined by the Chhattisgarh government's decision to completely disinvest in public transport. Continually exposed to illnesses associated with malnutrition and poverty including tuberculosis and rheumatic heart disease, the doctors at JSS are tireless advocates for universal healthcare and the need to introduce measures to reduce society's inequities and focus resources upon the three-quarters of India's population who live on less than 20 Rupees (50 US cents) a day.

This photo-story on the vaccination campaign to rid India of the polio virus focuses on Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. These two states are home to more than 250 million people, many of them living in overcrowded areas of poor sanitation that make them particularly susceptible to the virus. Following a ten-fold increase in the number of polio cases between 2005-2006 the Indian government, together with partners including UNICEF and Rotary International, embarked on a renewed effort to eradicate polio. In the largest public health drive in the world, these partners mobilised thousands of volunteers to administer and supervise the vaccination effort. UNICEF also recruited people with influence to encourage communities to have their children protected against polio. Misinformation, rumours and a frustration with the lack of other health services mean that many households, particularly in Muslim areas, continue to resist vaccination.

The Indian state of Jharkhand boasts huge mineral deposits, including coal. Yet, as I discovered while photographing this story, it is home to some of the poorest people in India. As mining companies have moved in, so indigenous Adivasi communities have been forced from their land. Despite their sacrifice, these people remain marginalised and poor. Few of them find jobs in the big mines. And with few alternative employment opportunities, many eke out a living by scavenging coal from the edges of mines. According to the Indian finance ministry, “High growth is critical to generate the revenues needed for meeting our social welfare objectives.” But there is little sign of investment in the people of Jharkhand where annual per capita income is just US$330 and75% of indigenous Adivasi women remain illiterate. Local communities understand that mineral exploitation provides them no benefit and struggle to keep coal mining companies and thermal power plants from their land. Resistance groups like Jharkhand Mines Area Coordination Committee would sooner face imprisonment than capitulate to myths about development. They have seen their mineral wealth shipped out to benefit others. And they understand better than anyone else that local communities must in future be at the forefront of the decision making process if they are ever to challenge the powerful interests that exploit Jharkhand’s wealth and continue to deny human rights to those who are being forced from their land.

Artist couple Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher at their studios in Gurgaon, a satellite town of New Delhi, India. Subodh Gupta's most celebrated sculptures are constructed from common domestic items including the steel pots and pans that are a feature every Indian home. Gupta was brought up, one of six children, to a railway-worker father in a north Indian village. Gupta's work fetches such huge sums of money. Two versions of his Mind Shut Down, modeled on the human skull and constructed entirely of steel kitchen utensils recently sold for €1 million each.

India's landmark passing of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 ensures free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of 6 and 14. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where these photographs were taken, the government has been at the forefront of curriculum reform, promoting Activity Based Learning (ABL) which engages children in small-group learning rather than rote-tuition. While these advances are to be welcomed, there are significant problems to be addressed particularly in encouraging the retention of girls in school. At this government girls-school in the city of Cuddalore, I found some students forced to sit on the floor for want of a desk and chair. And, while many of the teachers were undoubtedly committed educators, persistent absenteeism among some of their colleagues inevitably discouraged attendance among students. These issues need to be addressed but I would expect little change until the Indian middle class and upper class begin educating their children at such institutions. Only when policy-makers and their influential constituents have a direct interest in the proper-running of government schools - rather than private institutions to which they send their own children - will there be a systematic improvement in the education of all Indian school children. These photographs of Indian school girls at home and in school are part of larger story I have photographed documenting the lives of children from south India who lost parents to the 2004 Asian Tsunami.

Like many HIV-positive women in India, Vasanti Shinde, age 26, only found out that she was HIV positive after her husband became seriously ill with an AIDS-related illness. Vasanti's husband subsequently died. Vasanti now lives with her two younger daughters the one-room home of her brother in Maharashtra state. Though first-line drugs and homeopathic medicine keep Vasanti healthy, she is prone to infection and recently suffered a bout of influenza. Vasanti is completely open about her HIV status and most of her neighbours know that she is HIV positive. While photographing Vasanti, I discovered that, by accepting and confronting her disease, this young woman had succeeded in transforming her life for the better. She had become an outspoken advocate for the rights of HIV-positive people working with a local organisation called the Save Foundation that campaigns for the right to access generic drugs. A shared sense of solidarity with other HIV-positive Indians meant that Vasanti’s advocacy work had allowed her to breach the intransigent barriers of caste, religion and language that divide Indian society. Like many other advocates for the HIV-positive community, Vasanti’s horizons had broadened and she had outspoken opinions on subjects beyond the immediate concerns of her illness. Indeed, her own experience of discrimination had led her to consider the concerns of others condemned by prejudice and ignorance for reasons that had nothing to do with HIV.

These photographs document tiger-conservation efforts in the north Indian state of Rajasthan. Sariska National Park was once home to dozens of tigers but by 2005 poaching had resulted in their complete eradication. Recognising the urgent need for intervention, the the Indian and Rajasthan-state governments began the reintroduction of tigers into Sariska. This tiger-relocation strategy is certainly an important part of the tiger conservation effort but many, including those like Dharmendra Khandal of the NGO Tiger Watch, argue that it will never be entirely successful without properly confronting the three essential issues that threaten tiger populations: poaching, habitat loss and the hunting of prey-base animals. In turn, these three issues cannot be addressed without acknowledging the malign influence of caste, poverty and poor administrative accountability. Poaching is almost exclusively undertaken by extremely poor and marginalised groups, including the Mogia caste who, without education, land and access to credit have limited alternative means of income. The Gujar people whose livelihood is dairy farming often have little choice but to allow their cattle herds to encroach on park land. This has led to a loss of habitat for tigers. To properly tackle the problem of hunting and encroachment, the government must provide alternative livelihoods for marginalised groups and relocate them to viable land before - rather than after - the re-introduction of tigers. Compounding all these issues is the ridged hierarchy of India's forest department which discourages transparency, inhibits debate and cultivates a careerist culture that obstructs the involvement of other interested parties in the decision-making process.

These photographs were taken on the streets of urban Mumbai as the first rains of the 2013 monsoon season began to fall.

These photographs follow the work of Rupesh, an advisor to India's Supreme Court Commissioner on the Right to Food. Rupesh (he goes by only one name) is one of those people who's dedication and commitment to his job goes well beyond the call of duty. Refreshingly unsentimental in his approach to the task of uncovering corruption and equipped with a dry sense of humor, he is charged with a responsibility to uphold the Indian Constitution that guarantees life to all Indians. This right - it goes without saying - cannot be granted without access to food. Rupesh, who works in Bihar state, argues that corrupt officials must be held accountable for their own actions. But he insists that corruption should be considered chiefly a consequence - rather than the cause - of a deeper malaise: namely poverty and inequality. Rupesh is adamant that until these structural deficiencies are confronted, India cannot hope to build the proper systems of education, accountability and justice that are prerequisites for a society free of corruption.

Young guests of a wedding-party gather on a beach in Dar es Salaam for post-ceremony photographs.

Indian author and political activist Arundhati Roy at home in New Delhi. Since winning the 1998 Man Booker Prize for Fiction winning with her novel The God of Small Things, Roy has become known for her involvement in environmental and human rights causes both in India and abroad.

Pilgrims and tourists gather at Varanasi's ghats to bathe in the sacred Ganges river. The ghats attract millions of Hindu pilgrims from across India every year.

Ela Bhatt is founder of the Self Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA), a trade-union which represents the rights of over one million workers. Bhatt has spent forty years helping to mobilize and bring justice to a once-marginalised and factious group of workers. Thanks to SEWA, these workers have secured legal protection for their trade and escaped the exploitation they once suffered at the hands of the police and money lenders. Bhatt has also received many honours including India’s Padma Bhushan and Japan’s Niwano Peace Prize. She is a member of The Elders, a group of statesmen and social activists brought together by Nelson Mandela to promote peace building and human rights.

Interior photographs of Designer Divya Thakur's recently renovated home in a century-old building in the Colaba neighbourhood of Mumbai. Thakur runs Design Temple, a graphics firm that she established ten years ago.

Children in the East and North East of Sri Lanka were particularly affected by the 25 year conflict between the mainly Singhalese government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The 2004 tsunami caused further death and destruction to coastal communities in this region of Sri Lanka. These photographs, commissioned by UNICEF, document efforts to improve the lives of children living in this area where thousands died and many families were displaced. In 2009, just after the formal cessation of hostilities in the 25-year civil war and five years after the tsunami, I visited schools and health centres where attempts were being made to improve access to education and medical facilities and to bring some semblance or normalcy to children's lives.

Portraits of William Dalrymple, award winning British historian and writer. Dalrymple is one of the co-founders of the annual Jaipur Literature Festival in India.

These photographs document the work of Ramvati Adivasi who is both an ASHA (local female health advisor) and a presenter for community radio station Dharkan 107.8 FM. Like much of rural north India, Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh state suffers from poor health outcomes including a high rate of maternal mortality. The Indian government, with partners UNICEF, hopes to encourage the population to adopt practices to improve sanitation and health practices. In an area made up of isolated and marginalised communities and suffering low literacy rates, this can be a challenge. Community radio may succeed in reaching this community by infusing humor, folk music and other entertainment with health advice.

SRI (System of Rice Intensification) is an organic system of intensively growing crops that can double yields. Using SRI, Amar Singh and his family produce enough rice for all of their annual needs from only 1.5 acres of land. By using SRI Amar Singh never has to spend money on expensive chemicals which degrade the soil. SRI also uses less seed. With fewer inputs Amar Singh has made savings and invested these in his farm. Last year he purchased a new bullock cart. And Amar Singh's grandchildren no longer have to work the land when they should be at school as he did when he was a child.

Still frames from my film on Delhi barbers shops "Saloon".

Women like Irma and Julia, both from Connecticut, are able to raise their families in a secure environment thanks to the Supportive Housing program. Poverty and a lack of affordable childcare deny women the resources required to live independently of violent partners who might also contribute to monthly expenses, provide childcare and housing. The Supportive Housing program in Connecticut is keen that such experiences are avoided and provides wrap-around case management services aimed at ensuring child safety while keeping families together. Case workers provide material and emotional support to women, many of whom have lived with poverty and abuse since they were children themselves. This program subsidises housing so that these women can escape abusive relationships while keeping custody of their children.

Photographs of industry, manufacturing and business taken on assignment for corporate clients in Asia, Africa and the UK.