Ahead of Valentine's Day, Oxfam has teamed up with celebrity Scottish photographer, Rankin, for "From Congo with Love", a series of portraits inspired by the love and solidarity of ordinary people living amid conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Eastern Congo is one of the most violent places in the world. Five million people have died and two million more have been displaced due to fighting. The majority of these don't live in camps. Instead, they live with families who have opened their homes to those - in many cases complete strangers - who have lost everything.

For this project, Rankin's second trip to Congo with Oxfam, he visited a small town called Sange in eastern DRC, where the population has doubled in size as a result of renewed fighting. There he met host families who were housing one to three other families in small, two-roomed homes.

As well as looking at the kindness shown by Congo's host families, Rankin's portraits focus on other forms of love found in Congo, such as romantic love, mothers' love and the pain of love lost, with the people photographed against the same trademark white background that Rankin uses with celebrity clients, such as Kate Moss and the Queen.

The portraits and stories of 'From Congo with Love' will be published in a new coffee table book 'We Are Congo', which will also feature pictures Rankin took on a previous trip to Congo, alongside photographs taken by the people in the communities he visited.

'We are Congo', this limited edition Valentine's Day gift, is available at selected Oxfam shops across Scotland (see below for list of shops) and online at www.oxfam.org.uk from today (Thursday February 11), priced £20, with all proceeds going to Oxfam's work in Congo.

Rankin said:

"My style of portraiture is about bringing people out of themselves, getting them to share something. I chose to photograph the people against a white background instead of in their physical environment. The expressions in their eyes and on their faces - their humanity - was what I wanted people to notice and relate to.

"This collection focuses on the relationships that bind people to each other - the connections that make us human. I hope that these photographs can aid understanding. They are neither ugly images of brutality, nor sentimental images of suffering. The world needs imagery that, instead of encouraging pity and powerlessness, promotes understanding, connection, and ultimately action. It's about making people accessible to each other."

As well as taking his own portraits, Rankin held photography workshops with the local community, handing out cameras and teaching almost one hundred people how to take their own pictures. The photographs focus on the things that people in the community love and hold dear - from children and homes to favourite pets and football teams.

Rankin continued:

"I gave out cameras so that the people could have authorship over their own images - show us what was important in their lives. The images I got back were amazing, like an intimate family album of life in the Congo. It gives the people that see the images in the UK a very direct connection to people in Congo."

In the DRC, Oxfam has expanded its programme to provide clean water and decent sanitation to the newly displaced. It is now assisting some 800,000 people across eastern Congo and this project and book are linked to a fundraising appeal for its work.

Rankin said:

"When I first went to the DRC, I expected to be depressed. I wondered how people got up in the morning to face all the misery. But the people I met there confounded my expectations. I met fathers, mothers, children, all getting on with life, making it through, even having a laugh and a joke. These people didn't see themselves as victims, despite the bad hand that fate had dealt them. This book celebrates their spirit.

"What I've always been trying to do is to take the victim out of the equation. Take that feeling of pity out of it, say these are human beings and we actually just owe it to them to try to help them. If you do give money to Oxfam I know that the money comes back to Congo. That's the brilliant thing. The money we made last time was brought to Congo and it's getting results."

Malcolm Fleming, Campaigns Manager at Oxfam Scotland, said:

"Rankin's portraits and the Congolese people in them are inspirational. If you give this beautiful book to your loved one this Valentine's Day, every penny raised by its sale goes to Oxfam's Congo appeal to help bring safe water and sanitation to 800,000 people across Eastern Congo, who have lost their homes due to fighting."

People can donate to the Oxfam Congo appeal by visiting www.oxfam.org.uk/rankin or calling 0300 200 1300.

'From Congo with Love' is part of a book, 'We are Congo'. The following Oxfam shops in Scotland are selling 'We are Congo' -

Oxfam Bookshop, Byres Road, Glasgow
Oxfam Bookshop, Back Wynd, Aberdeen
Oxfam Shop, Broughty Ferry, Dundee
Oxfam Shop, Lombard Street, Inverness
Oxfam Shop, Morningside Road, Edinburgh

An exhibition of 'From Congo with Love' will run outside the National Theatre in London from Thursday February 11 until April 11 2010.