This artist is interested in Skin. She has a condition called dermatographia which is in her words:

a condition in which one’s immune system exhibits hypersensitivity, via skin, that releases excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the skin’s surface is lightly scratched. This allows me to painlessly draw patterns and words on my skin, which I then photograph.

She makes temporary tattoos and wallpaper out of her photographs, but the photos that really caught my attention are of the welts on her skin. I suffer from eczema, so I'm used to seeing welts like these on my skin, but for me they are the harbinger of something terrible. To see someone controlling the histamine reaction, the same reaction that has so often controlled me, and then creating something beautiful out of something which I have always considered so ugly is truly inspiring.

I wrote to Ariana and she wrote back:

I'm glad you're sharing your skin condition as well. It is something we have to embrace: the uniqueness of our skin.

I thought that was worth sharing too.

1 million people in the UK are watching Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, if the viewing figures for the first episode are to be believed. I wasn’t as I don’t have Sky, but then I looked it up on Youtube. I watched the first three episodes. You can watch them by following these links. They're on Youtube in 10-minute segments, but eventually they will be removed for copyright infringement. The first episode is prior to deployment, it doesn’t really hot up until the second one.

Ross Kemp in Afghanistan 1

Part 1-Part 2-Part 3-Part 4-Part 5

Ross Kemp in Afghanistan 2

Part 1-Part 2-Part 3-Part 4-Part 5

Ross Kemp in Afghanistan 3

Part 1-Part 2-Part 3 -Part 4-Part 5

I thought it was excellent, it told the story from the perspective of the British Soldier. This whole war is being overlooked certainly from the perspective of an average infantryman. I think Ross himself put it well in an interview for the Independent:

"Whatever one thinks about the rights and wrongs of sending the troops, it would be good if the public had an understanding of what it's like for the soldiers."

In this article the journalist criticises Kemp for not making any kind of political point in his program, I think this is one of the plus points of the series. We all know the background to this; we all have an opinion for all the good it does. Plus it's on Sky, it's paid for by Rupert Murdock, would you really believe any political message it contained?

If you’re still not sure if you should watch it, here is another article written by Ross himself. I thought this rather hard hitting quote on the potential psychological cost to the soldiers stood out.

One sniper I met shot at least 30 people while I was with the regiment. And when you’re a sniper you see their heads go. He’s 19. He still gets turned away from nightclubs because he looks too young. But he’s shot 30 people.