New York-based photographer Mariana Cookisknownfor her character studies of persons both in and out of the public eye. Among her previous bestselling photobooks are Mathematicians, Faces of Science, Mothers and Sons and Fathers and Daughters. Her latest collection introduces us to some of the women and men whoarethe faces of the human rights revolution, among them former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the39thAmericanPresident Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutuand the Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. Cook traveled the world to photograph and interview her subjects, and the accompanying textssome written by the subjects themselves, others edited from interviews with themsharetheirinsights intothe nature and importance of human rights, and their reasons for devoting themselves to that cause. Through them we are reminded of the power of a single individualone face, one voiceto transform the world. These human rightspioneersseek no personal gain: any rewards are the benefits that we all enjoy when the rule of democratic law protects us. The pictures and the words in this book show the strength of human character that has made human rights such a powerful movement across the world in our lifetime.
