Inspired by Aimé Césaire’s formulation “colonisation = chosification”, Photoworks Annual #30 is themed The Thing. Gathering work from 30 artists, five writers, and two curators, this publication considers how the camera objectifies, and how image-makers have broached this. Each artist’s project is individually introduced, and The Thing also features newly commissioned essays by four writers and academics which center around time, black women artists, and depictions of people by NGOs and aid agencies: Marta Labad, Pelumi Odubanjo, and Jess Crombie & Siobhan Warrington. The introductory essay is by Diane Smyth, Editor of Photoworks and this Annual, and The Thing also includes a round-table transcript of Photoworks Curators Julia Bunneman and Danit Ariel with Matilde Søes Rasmussen, Felipe Romero Beltrán, and Mahmoud Khaled discussing power and image appropriation.