The exhibit offers a unique and first-hand look at what war and armed violence do to people’s lives – from the heartbreaking loneliness of an elderly woman made homeless by last year’s war between Georgia and Russia to the unbridled joy of two brothers reunited after being separated by fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

According to the ICRC's director of communications, Yves Daccord, the images depict the reality and brutality of armed conflict, but they also show that even in the darkest hours of despair there is a sense of hope and pride. "Too often we look at an image and we automatically put a label on what we see. There is a tendency to think of people simply as 'victims' or 'sufferers', but they are all human beings," he said. "War and violence can strip us of many things, but the one enduring and universal thing we all share is human dignity. Behind the suffering there is always a person and that really comes across in this exhibit."

The five photojournalists, James Nachtwey, Ron Haviv, Chris Morris, Franco Pagetti and Antonin Kratochvil, who are all from the New York-based VII Agency, travelled to eight countries, where they met countless displaced families, prisoners, orphaned children, war surgeons, poor and widowed mothers, disabled volunteers, rebel fighters, rape victims, counsellors, midwives and others affected by armed conflict.

"When people are suffering, it doesn't mean they don't express dignity. When people are afraid, it doesn't mean they lack courage. When people are in pain, it doesn't mean they don't have hope," said Nachtwey. "Whatever else one might see or feel when looking at a picture of human suffering – outrage, sadness, disbelief – what I think is essential to take away from such an image is a sense of compassion."

Over the past five months, Nachtwey travelled with the ICRC to Afghanistan and the Philippines’ conflict-ravaged region of Central Mindanao. Meanwhile, Haviv covered DRC and Haiti, Morris went to Liberia, Pagetti travelled to Colombia and Lebanon, and Kratochvil photographed Georgia in Eastern Europe. Our World – At War is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s Our world. Your move. campaign, which aims to highlight today’s most pressing humanitarian challenges and the power of individuals to make a difference. For more, go to: www.ourworld-yourmove.org