There are no rules, no guidelines.
Simply respect the story.

Legacy of War

Legacy of War is a project by the photographer Giles Duley documenting the long-term impact of conflict globally.

The stories serve as stark reminders to the world of war’s true cost. As conflicts are increasingly fought remotely or at distance; these stories bring us face to face with their realities.

You can read the stories and backgrounds to these photographs at www.legacyofwar.com On request, most images there are available for collaboration.

Mosul – A City of Ghosts

In October 2019 the photographer Giles Duley produced a series of over sixty cityscapes documenting the destruction of Mosul. Between October 2016 and July 2017, the battle of Mosul, a campaign by Iraqi and the Combined Task Force to retake the city had resulted in apocalyptic destruction to the Old City, with an estimated eighty percent of building destroyed. 

The number of civilians killed during the fight for the city is unknown.

In part to reconcile his own experiences of documenting the battle of Mosul (Duley was based in a hospital photographing injured civilians in early 2017) and also to create a narrative link between current events in the Middle East and World War Two’s impact on European cities, Duley’s work deliberately echoes the Trümmerfotografie (rubble photography) of 1945’s Germany. Shot on medium format black and white film, these cityscapes, despite lacking human form, recall the life of the once thriving Old City and the inhabitants who once lived there.

In Duley’s own words, “Mosul is a city of ghosts”.

South Sudan Hairdressers

This is why Sarah and seven other South Sudanese refuges decided to do something about it. Despite having no training, they decided to set up a hair salon in Bidi Bidi refugee camp.

The camp, in northern Uganda, near the town of Yumbe is the second largest refugee camp in the world, where nearly quarter of a million South Sudanese live, the majority since 2016. It is in reality a small city and with the support of the Ugandan government, UNHCR and other agencies, many small businesses have been set up.

For the women who run the salon it is so much more than a business. They wanted to build their own community for single mothers. It keeps them busy, stopping them from spending time alone thinking on what has happened. Many have lost family members, husbands, children. They were also creating a place where they could support each other and build their own family.

“It’s difficult for women to talk and tell stories,” explains Sarah, who is something of a mother to the group. “In the salon, when something is wrong, we can tell and so we ask, we talk and together we find answers?”

 La Sape (Société des ambianceurs et des personnes élégantes)

The story of La Sape in Congo is the story of defiance to colonial rule, war, strife, poverty; it is not about fashion, it’s a statement through style. The Sapeurs are of the same tradition as London punks, the Blitz Club New Romantics or the Voguers of NY City. It’s all about flair, self-designed clothes, DIY styling and wearing everything with attitude. And underlying it all a resilience and desire to break social norms and taboos. It’s about more than fashion it’s about identity, politics, self-expression and not being hidden by society. In these clothes, with these looks and moves, the marginalised refuse to be ignored.

“Being elegant is not enough to be a Sapeur - to be a true member of La Sape is about creativity, change, communication and wise choices in life” - Six Lokato

VENT is a collaboration with Giles Duley and OPX Studio

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For photography commissions and projects please contact:
edson@ew-agency.com

Copyright © 2022
Giles & OPX Studio

Email your submission to Vent@opx.co.uk

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