THEY are powerful and poignant, but Nicky Lewin's photographs of tsunami victims also respect their spirit in the face of adversity.Today he is busy printing them in readiness for the 'Life After Tsunami - Save Our Village' exhibition, with that reverence in mind.

THEY are powerful and poignant, but Nicky Lewin's photographs of tsunami victims also respect their spirit in the face of adversity.

Today he is busy printing them in readiness for the 'Life After Tsunami - Save Our Village' exhibition, with that reverence in mind.

Some will be as large as 2ft 6ins across, and they will all be arranged in 'chapters' with just a select few printed in colour. The rest will be in black and white to suit the poignancy of the subject.

The event is being supported by the Evening Star.

Former Star photographer Nicky said: "It is a very stark subject, but from my work over the years, - particularly on an AIDS project in Africa with Care International - I have learned a big lesson, that you can bring out the positive even from tragedy."

He plans to end the exhibition with an inspiring picture, of children playing in a tree.

Some of the stunning images of the devastation wreaked by the tidal wave in South East Asia, taken two weeks after the disaster struck, appeared in the Evening Star last week.

But a total of about 120 are due to be revealed at Ipswich Corn Exchange, where a room is being given free of charge by Ipswich Borough Council's arts and entertainments department.

The event is also being supported by ICI Imagedata and Readyfence who were both keen to give their services for the effort.

The exhibition launches at 6pm on Thursday, at the Limelight Bar of the Corn Exchange and Nicky plans to be there to chat to visitors about the stories behind the photographs.

All donations made at the exhibition will go directly to help the families Nicky met in a refugee camp at Negombo. The plight of hundreds left homeless and starving – including four-year-old Rebecah, who was suffering from chicken pox featured in the Evening Star last month. Rebecah and many more fascinating people and places, feature in Nicky's engaging set of pictures.

As well as business and community leaders, every Star reader is invited to the opening night.

Schools and colleges are also encouraged to attend to use the material on show as a learning experience for subjects like geography, science, media and photography.

The event will run for two weeks, to give everyone a chance to attend.

It will be open from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Mondays, and 8.30am to 10.30am Tuesday to Saturday.