The story of war is never far from the news.  These days you can be pretty certain that wherever a gun is going off, the lens of a camera is not far behind.  But what happens after war, in the aftermath? The other half of the story. The one that really counts.

Last year’s short conflict in Kenya was one of the most photographed in African history but once the killing slowed to a trickle most of the international photographers packed their bags and moved on.  In the aftermath of the violence the UN asked for several hundreds of millions of dollars of cash to clean up but not a single dime to collate a visual record of the story of what happened, and not a penny to capture/document the story of the aftermath.

I believe this was shortsighted.

There is no doubt how the story of the aftermath continues to be recorded will impact what happens the next time Kenya goes to the polls, will a  play in role in whether the country reconciles with its past and builds a more equal future.  Most importantly it will ensure that people cannot re-write history in an attempt to insight violence between tribes.

I was there in the aftermath trying to make a difference, to tell the story of those forced to flee from their homes.  It was there that I came across the photography of Yasuyoshi Chiba.

One shot forever sticks in my mind, that for me tells the story of the aftermath in a way that still knocks me out. A man using the rubble of his own house as weights to lift on an iron bar.  It tells a different story of the people of Kenya than the one shown on our TV’s. It speaks of their resilience, pride and determination to rebuild their lives. (see Yasuyoshi’s photo below)

That was the Kenya I grew to love and admire, and that’s the Kenya that I share with people when I speak of the place. Neither purely negative nor purely positive, but real, and endlessly, unrelentingly complex. A developing story.

That’s why of all the awards going in photography to me the AFTERMATH project matters the most. Why? Because it supports the telling of stories that help to shape both our understanding of the past and the path we walk into the future:

The Aftermath Project is ‘a non-profit organization committed to telling the other half of the story of conflict — the story of what it takes for individuals to learn to live again, to rebuild destroyed lives and homes, to restore civil societies, to address the lingering wounds of war while struggling to create new avenues for peace.’

Recycling the wreckage of a destroyed house – Yasuyoshi Chiba.

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Award winning photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba of a crowd watching the result of the recent American Presidential election in Kibera in Kenya.

(C) Yasuyoshi Chiba.

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