Interview: Giles Duley

The U.K.-based photographer and activist shares what it’s like to document war, why his own injuries only fueled his passion, and how he breaks down barriers — with Italian food.

By Danielle Groen

On a cold February morning in 2011, while embedded in Afghanistan with American troops, photographer Giles Duley stepped on an IED that would take both his legs and left arm. Over the next year in hospital, and through 37 operations, Duley fixated on what he knew he most needed: to get back to work. “I hadn’t lost my passion,” he says. “I hadn’t lost my purpose.”

Eighteen months after his accident, Duley returned to a Kabul ER, documenting civilians caught in the conflict. He’s since worked in places like Gaza, South Sudan and Iraq, and says what he’s lost in mobility, he’s gained in empathy: “I focus on what I can control, and that’s my connection with the people I’m photographing.” He’s the first United Nations Global Advocate for persons with disabilities in conflict and peace-building situations, and, in 2017, he started Legacy of War Foundation, which works alongside groups affected by conflict worldwide to help them rebuild their lives. “In the same way I wanted to document the impact of war as a photographer,” he says, “I wanted to set up projects that had a legacy.”

Range What does the word “legacy” mean to you?

Giles Duley In school, we learn about wars based on when they started, when they finished, and through the eyes of the people, usually men, fighting. But if you look at modern conflicts, about 90 percent of the casualties are civilians, which tends to mean women and children. And for people who are injured in conflict, whether psychologically or physically, wars don’t end when peace deals are signed. So legacy, for me, is looking at the period after everyone forgets.

R How does that guide your foundation’s philosophy?

GD You hear a lot of charities say, we empower women, children, communities around the world. After I was injured, nobody empowered me to walk again — but they gave me the training, skills and equipment to do it. So, what we do is break down the barriers that stop people from empowering themselves. A good example is Land for Women in Rwanda. That project began as a cooperative of 25 women who were survivors of the genocide and sexual violence, renting land to get basically no money for the potatoes they grew. Now, I’m a white bloke from South London. I couldn’t empower these women — these women are the strongest I’ve ever met. But we could break down their barriers to education and land ownership.

R What happens when those barriers are removed?

GD Within the Imboni Cooperative’s first year, the Rwandan government found that malnutrition had disappeared. Children were in school full-time because they weren’t working on the farm. For the first time in their lives, women were saving money; they had health insurance. And the women chose to give away 25 percent of their produce to people in need in their communities. We didn’t tell them they had to save, or that their kids had to be back in school. We gave them the platform to do the things they’d always wanted to do.

R You’ve said you’ll only photograph a community if you’ve eaten with them first. How come?

GD In our normal lives, everything revolves around food. You meet someone you’re attracted to, you ask them out for dinner. You have a wedding, a funeral — the focus is on food. That’s how we build relationships in everyday life. So why not in my work? It’s a sign of respect, when I meet someone and say, look, can I come back tomorrow and we’ll cook together? It surprises people, but it also opens up a different relationship. Food is the greatest storyteller.

R And what do you cook with them?

GD I like to come in and say, I’m going to show you something you’ve never had. The last time I was in Lebanon with Syrian refugees, I was like, right, I’ll cook an Italian dish, you cook your Syrian dish, and we’ll see whose is better. You see families going, oh my God, that’s weird and different. But it’s all tongue-in-cheek.

R What does Legacy of War Foundation have planned for this year?

GD In Ukraine, we’re training people with disabilities to become physiotherapists and prosthetists, because that’s a double whammy — we build capacity within the country, and jobs for people who have war injuries. Land for Women is expanding with two more farms in Rwanda, and we’re hoping to take it to Cambodia and other countries. We’ve worked hard and set an example of how we want to do things, and this is a year of growth.

Travel Bites

Earliest travel memory

“Going to Chicago when I was about 11 as an unaccompanied minor to see my sister. I wore this big sign around my neck with my name on it and thought I was really grown-up.”

Most treasured souvenir

“I have a little Father Christmas that an Iraqi refugee knitted. She didn’t know what Christmas was, but she’d seen a picture and wanted to make something for me.”

Favorite way to travel

“Trains. I adore trains.”

Favorite train trip

“Scotland’s east coast. You pass the sea and the mountains and it’s absolutely beautiful.”

Overnight-flight essential

“It’s not very rock ’n’ roll, but my pink-colored eye mask, because it was the only one I could find infused with lavender.”

Place you can go back to again and again

“Lebanon. The people, the food, the energy.”

Place not enough people have seen

“Rwanda.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Ensemble has launched a campaign to fund a new farming cooperative for Legacy of War Foundation’s Land for Women project in Rwanda. To help, visit tinyurl.com/rangelowf.