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Pictures from a Rebellion – Bryan Denton in Libya

October 26, 2011

Corbis contributor Bryan Denton was embedded with anti-Qaddafi rebels for six months on assignment for The New York Times, where he witnessed some of the most significant advances and battles of the Libyan civil war. During this period his work featured frequently on the front pages of major international news publications. Currently, it appears in an exhibition by New York University’s Department of Photography and Imaging.

Here, Bryan tells us what it was like to work in the midst of a major rebellion, takes us behind some of his most stunning shots, and describes the delicate relationship between freedom fighters and photojournalists.

MAINTAINING QUALITY IN DANGEROUS PLACES
It can be difficult. When you’re photographing on a volatile front line, you are essentially multi-tasking, looking for shots that represent what is going on through all of the noise, and at the same time trying to read the situation to make sure that you are not putting yourself at greater risk than is needed.

Mostly, I try to slow things down and understand what I’m seeing, and what is going on around me, and focus on what I think is important. Also, I was lucky enough to have the support of the New York Times during my time covering Libya, being on assignment for them for nearly six months. When you cover a story for that long, many scenes and pictures start to repeat themselves, and you find yourself noticing and focusing on different moments as you get closer to a story.

Photojournalism takes time, which is increasingly difficult to get in this brave new world of media where transmitting your photographs is something that can happen twice a day.

BEHIND THE SHOT [SLIDESHOW #1]: REBEL NEAR THE FRONT LINE, 50 KM WEST OF RAS LANUF
This photograph was made on March 5, at one of the furthest western points the rebels from Benghazi reached on their first push down the road to Sirte and Tripoli. The rebellion at that stage was only two weeks old, and most of the rebels from Benghazi had not yet encountered the massed conventional military forces, such as heavy artillery and airstrikes, that would become the trademark of the conflict.

I remember I noticed this rebel, primarily because of his almost urban chic style—the tight pants, the stylishly wrapped kafifyeh—he would have looked right at home in Williamsburg if you took away the Kalashnikov. He was running through this system of dunes, with a fairly large group of other armed rebels as they were clearing a group of agricultural fields and buildings alongside the road. In hindsight, this image stands out because it’s filled with a strange innocence. In the beginning, most of the rebels were kids who had never experienced armed conflict, let alone fought in one, and their behavior, their tactics, emulated what they had seen in movies and on television.

BEHIND THE SHOT [SLIDESHOW #2]: REBELS TAKE COVER IN A CONCRETE PIPE DURING THE ADVANCE TO BIN JOWAD
That shot is slightly deceiving in how quiet it is. I and several of my colleagues were photographing on what we discovered was almost the absolute frontline outside of Bin Jawad on March 6, when Qaddafi’s forces launched a large counterattack with tanks and heavy artillery. We had taken cover at a concrete pipe factory, pictured, where there were a number of large reenforced concrete pipe segments—the best cover available in Libya’s wide open desert—during a barrage of 122mm and 107mm rockets on the area, some landing within 75 – 100m of our location. The rebels arrived after us, probably with the same idea, and flopped down exhausted as the barrage continued. By the time we left, the area had almost been overtaken, and when we reached the road, we were soon pinned down by heavy machine gun fire.

LIBYAN REBELS AND INTERNATIONAL PHOTOJOURNALISTS
It depended on the situation, but in general, the rebels were quite curious and supportive of our work. For most of the rebels, and Libyans in general, this revolution was their first exposure to western and major media outlets. As we traveled around their revolution, many of them were enthusiastic about helping us with our work, but some were also suspicious. For almost 42 years, Qaddafi’s regime had painted a picture of us as spies and troublemakers, and this doesn’t vanish overnight. In general though, access was almost completely open.

To be honest, what I was most concerned with most of the time was how we as journalists were acting around the rebels. There were a lot of freelancers, myself included initially, running around Libya taking pictures and writing stories. While the vast majority of us were doing solid ethical work, there were an odd few that would do things like give advice, and take rebels up on their offer to test out weapons—not in combat situations, but just for kicks during the quiet moments; both of which are completely at odds with the ethical standards of most journalistic organizations. Witnessing this made me particularly upset, because while it may seem like it’s all in good fun—part of an adventure I suppose, it could significantly alter the way that the rebels perceive who we are and what we do as members of the press. While we were looking for access and stories, we, as a community, were also laying the groundwork for how Libya will deal with journalism, freedom of speech, and a host of other issues related to an open society in the future.

See the full image set

Find out more about Bryan Denton’s New York University Exhibition, which runs until November 19.

Visit Bryan Denton’s website.

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