This is Gender: Photography on the Frontlines of Justice

This is Gender: Photography on the Frontlines of Justice was recently exhibited on the margins of Expo 2025 in Osaka, an opportunity to share our work with new audiences and join global conversations about how art can foster harmony and mutual understanding in a fractured world.

The event combined both an exhibition and two live presentations, offering audiences the chance to experience the This is Gender collection in depth and to reflect on how critical visual storytelling can open new ways of seeing gender, power, and justice.

For the first time, images from across five years of This is Gender were mobilised into dialogue in a single physical exhibition, bringing together perspectives from across cultures and the gender spectrum.

This milestone marked an evolution for Global 50/50’s visual programme: what began as an online initiative to reframe representation in global health and development is now expanding into physical spaces, bringing the evidence of inequality, and the imagination of justice, directly to audiences around the world.

As Imogen Bakelmun, curator of This is Gender, reflected during the exhibition:

“This exhibition spotlights untold stories of how gender is lived, resisted, and reimagined across the world. Together, these images challenge the lens through which we envision our gendered world, resisting singular narratives to reveal the interconnected struggles that define our times. It is both a reflection of today’s inequalities and an invitation to imagine justice anew.” 

Across the weekend, we met extraordinary artists, educators, and changemakers using creative practice to build empathy and dialogue across difference. Their insights reaffirmed how the images collected through This is Gender continue to act as catalysts, provoking reflection, challenging stereotypes, inviting viewers to reconsider how visual representation shapes our understanding of power, justice, and equality. In turn, reminding us why images remain central to Global 50/50’s work of making inequality visible and change imaginable.

These ideas were powerfully conveyed during Imogen’s remarks:

“This exhibition isn’t only about aesthetics, it’s about power. When images are mobilised together, they challenge the frames we inherit and open up space to imagine justice anew. Through This is Gender, we’re building a new visual vocabulary for justice.

By mobilising This is Gender in new settings, we see how images live and change. Their meanings shift as they meet different audiences, provoking dialogue, empathy, and sometimes discomfort. That movement, across borders and perspectives, is what keeps the collection alive.”

– Imogen Bakelmun, Curator, This is Gender

For us, bringing This is Gender to Osaka was not simply about exhibiting photographs; it was about activating conversation, about what gender means, how it is represented, and how visual storytelling can open new ways of seeing one another.

As our Co-CEO Prof Kent Buse explains, This is Gender forms a vital part of the organisation’s broader mission to pair rigorous evidence with compelling storytelling:

“At Global 50/50, we believe that changing the world begins with changing how we see it. This is Gender brings the realities of gender and power into focus – confronting the injustices that persist while illuminating the courage and creativity that drive change. Through this collection, we invite audiences not only to look, but to question – and ultimately, to act”

We’re proud that Global 50/50 could contribute to this transcultural dialogue and deeply grateful to the RSA for creating the space for it, and to the Flying Carpet Factory for their generosity and spirit of experimentation in shaping the exhibition.

Our collaboration with the RSA reflected a shared belief in the power of creativity to inspire civic imagination and collective resolve.

“The RSA and Global 50/50 share a common purpose: to bring new perspectives to the most pressing issues of our time. Our collaboration on the RSA’s ‘off Expo’ event series showed how a diversity of people and ideas can mix to generate fresh insight and energy.

As part of the events, we were privileged to have Global 50/50 share its This is Gender exhibition. This collection of photographs from those that infrequently get to share their work widely depicts how gender shapes us through our home life, work, casual relationships, places and beyond. Through challenging stereotypes and amplifying new voices, the exhibition sparked reflection, discussion and collective resolve among attendees to build a better world.

This is Gender continues to build a powerful visual record of how gender and power shape lives around the world, inviting us to see both the persistence of inequality and the possibilities of justice more clearly.”

– Tom Stratton, Chief of Staff at The RSA

We look forward to continuing these exchanges with RSA Fellows and others committed to advancing gender and social justice through creative and critical work.

For more insight into the project, including our most recent edition, Cripping the Lens: gender, disability and the politics of visibility, read curator Imogen Bakelmun’s interview in Aesthetica.

Explore the This is Gender platform to discover the full collection, virtual exhibitions, and encounter new perspectives from those on the frontlines of visual culture.

We’re always open to new ideas and collaborations on future exhibitions, themes, or partnerships. If you’d like to connect, reach out via our contact page, we’d love to hear from you.

Through creativity and evidence, we can keep making gender inequality visible, and change imaginable.