Saturday 21 April to 9 June 2012
After nearly three weeks of sustained protests by the Egyptian people who had taken to the streets and risked their lives, on the evening of the 11th of February 2011 Hosni Mubarak quietly stood down as president of Egypt, bringing to an end his 30 year reign.
It was empowering to come to Tahrir square and speak openly about their contempt for the dictatorship after 3 decades of living in fear. Many people would say, that they were simply proud to be Egyptian again, something they felt had been squeezed out of them after years of oppression.
The catalyst for Libya came on 15 February when the lawyer Fathi Terbil, who represents relatives of more than 1,000 prisoners allegedly massacred by security forces in Tripoli's Abu Salim jail in 1996, was arrested. Several thousand protesters took to the streets of Benghazi, Libya's second city and clashes with Gadaffi supporters and the notorious security services gradually spiraled out of control. After several days of intense fighting and huge losses on both sides, Benghazi was liberated on Sunday the 19th of February.
Other major cities soon fell and in Benghazi the opposition formed the National Transitional Council (NTC) to oversee the revolution and the transfer of power to a democratic state. When full-scale battles broke out towards the end of February, people began to realise that freedom in Libya was going to be harder won than in Egypt and Tunisia. Daily life all but ground to a halt. People stayed at home, depressed, disillusioned, and bored. Medical supplies ran low and power cuts became a daily occurrence. It took 6 months of bitter fighting to take Tripoli.
Photographers Ivor Prickett and Guy Martin documented these events from January 2011. On 20th April 2011, in Misrata, Guy Martin was seriously injured in the same incident that saw the deaths of photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros.
EVENT
Saturday 28 April at 2pm, Guy Martin and Ivor Prickett will be at Side Gallery to talk about their work. Free. All welcome.
Ivor Prickett and Guy Martin are represented by Panos Pictures.
Captions:
1. A rebel fighter pauses for afternoon prayers in the desert near Ajdabiya. Ivor Prickett, Libya, 2011.
2. Residents of the Zamalek neighbourhood guarding one of the many check points in the area set up to prevent looting. Ivor Prickett, Egypt, 2011.
3. Outnumbered and confronted by hundreds of Mubarak supporters in the streets of Tahrir Square, Anti-Government opposition fight back with rocks and stones to repel the oncoming group. Guy Martin, Egypt, 2011.
4. A family from Ajdabiya flees their home after weeks of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Gaddafi in the city. The families who chose to flee had to pass through Gaddafi checkpoints, targeted shelling and small arms fire, rebel checkpoints and then find family or friends in Benghazi to stay with. Guy Martin, Libya, 2011
