At UN headquarters in New York, where we met the photographer, writer, leader and founder of a world-renowned British NGO, staff stopped him after the press conference to thank him for his honesty and for raising stories too often overlooked.
Giles Duley dedicated his work as a photographer to documenting the impacts of war. He himself was seriously injured in Afghanistan and continues to fight on all fronts to heal his own wounds and those of others.
“The process of truly supporting people with disabilities in conflict and peacebuilding situations has not even begun,” he said. UN News. “Every day of my life I am on the front lines – in war zones and humanitarian crises – and I see people living in terrible situations in homemade tents. I see people unable to access toilets. I see people unable to escape bombings. I see people trapped in their homes, forced to use bathhouses as shelters because they cannot access underground shelters.”
As Global Defender he said, his mission was to honor the responsibility given to him by those whose lives he documented for decades. “When I photograph someone in a war zone… they always say, share this story with the leadership. But the opportunities to do that have never been fully exploited.”
“I wanted to be inspired, not to inspire others”
“I didn’t expect anything to change in my three years here. What I was hoping for was for people to listen — and that’s where I feel like I’ve failed, and that’s where I feel like the system has failed,” he said.
“Too often, when I was invited to speak, all people wanted me to do was tell my story. I was asked to inspire people.
Giles Duley began his career as a music photographer, photographing artists such as Mariah Carey, Oasis and Lenny Kravitz. In 2000, his image of Marilyn Manson was included in the 100 greatest rock photographs of all time. But then he turned to documentary work. In 2011, while working in Afghanistan, he was seriously injured by an IED, losing both legs and one arm. In 2012, he returned to work.
“I shouldn’t be here to inspire others,” he said. “I want to be inspired by non-disabled people who are striving to make a real impact in the lives of people with disabilities – to truly help them break down the barriers that create change. »
Too often, he warned, people with disabilities are included in symbolic, not substantive, ways. “I’ve been to many conferences where on stage there’s someone who was a landmine victim or a survivor of sexual violence…and over and over again, it’s performative. Everyone applauds, everyone says ‘I’m really inspired’…but how often do these people then get involved in the conversation about real political change?”
This week, Mr. Duley helped open Forward, NOT Fragmented, a United Nations exhibition on survivors, deminers and communities affected by explosive ordnance. Several of his photographs are now on display at Headquarters. He shared the stories behind a few of them.
A photo of Giles Duley from Chad.
Chad: crawling to safety
One photograph shows a woman called Nawali, a teacher and activist from a village near the Sudan-Chad border. Disabled by polio as a child, she had built a fiercely independent life. But when her village was attacked, “they broke her wheelchair and she literally had to crawl to safety in Chad.”
When Mr. Duley met her in a displaced persons camp, she was immobile and living in a tent. The woman who once led a busy professional life now has to crawl to the toilet – which is degrading and dangerous, with risks of assault.
“No agency had provided this wheelchair,” he said. Staff told her she wasn’t registered because “there were no experts to decide who had a disability.” He added dryly, “Maybe someone dragging themselves in front of them might not need an expert.” »
Ukraine: “We gave him treats”
In eastern Ukraine, he photographed Julia, a young woman with severe cerebral palsy. At the start of the full-scale invasion, his parents were arrested. Her mother repeatedly asked to be released, knowing that her daughter could not feed herself.
When the mother finally returned home, the soldiers “smiled sarcastically and said, ‘Don’t worry. We took care of her. We gave her treats.’”
Inside, she found Julia naked on the bed, covered in candy wrappers. “Her teeth fell out. Her hair fell out…the stress made her physically ill,” Mr Duley said. “This is the reality of people with disabilities in conflict situations. »
Julia is 32 years old and suffers from cerebral palsy. When her village in southern Ukraine was occupied by Russian forces, her parents – a teacher and a mayor – were targeted and harassed.
Gaza: life interrupted
He also spoke about Amro, a boy from Gaza who lost his leg after being shot by a sniper during the 2018-2019 border protests. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed during weekly protests.
After surgery and a difficult evacuation, Amro remained in the family apartment for two years. “He didn’t want to come out…because he felt like people were going to judge him,” Mr. Duley recalled. “He had been forgotten.”
Mr. Duley often visited him, cooked with the boy and eventually persuaded him to go for coffee along the beach. “Sometimes it’s very small acts of kindness and time that can change someone’s life. »
After the October 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel and the subsequent offensive in Gaza, his family asked him one last time: How can we escape? “I don’t know what happened to this family,” he said softly.
“Stop seeing the disability first”
Despite decades of advocacy, Duley said, systemic inaction persists due to stigma and discomfort. After his own injury, “people often wouldn’t even talk to me… A taxi driver would come up and ask the person behind me where I wanted to go.”
He urged media and communications professionals to rethink how they present disability. “Every time they interview me, the first thing they want to talk about is what happened to me over 10 years ago. In no other situation would I ask someone what their worst experience was ten years ago… I want people to talk about my work.”
People with disabilities, he says, often feel pressured to appear infinitely resilient. In humanitarian areas, he was frequently given “casualty lists” to guide his photography. “Before the person’s name, there was often a list… she’s an amputee, she has a facial injury… I was tearing up this sheet.
“Tell me about the family you meet that always makes you laugh. Tell me about the family that always feeds you so much you can’t leave. Tell me about the family that keeps you up at night. This list will be completely different from the original list.”
Bomb-sniffing bomb-sniffing dog, boss and owner, Mykhailo “Misha” Iliev, with UN Global Defender Giles Duley
Forgotten in crisis
He emphasized that disability is not a monolithic experience. People with mental health conditions and invisible disabilities face distinct risks. And wheelchair accessibility, while vital, is only one part of true inclusion.
Women with disabilities, he said, face “greater challenges than, unfortunately, women in most aspects of life”: limited access to toilets, increased stigma. Mothers caring for children with disabilities may not be able to leave the house to access support.
My dream is simply that everyone has the same opportunity as me
“In times of crisis, war or humanitarian disaster, these people become more vulnerable and often more forgotten,” he said. “It’s just about understanding their needs – that will enable them to have the same rights.” »
Equal opportunities
His final message to world leaders is based on his own recovery. “I’ve received incredible support…and I’m now living the life I could dream of. I’m traveling, I’m doing the work I’m passionate about, I’m living independently,” he said. But this, he insisted, “should be the right of every disabled person: we simply need to be seen as someone who needs a different set of supports to enable their empowerment.”
“My dream is simply for everyone to have the same opportunity as me. »
He remembers returning to Afghanistan after his injury, where he photographed a seven-year-old boy who had stepped on a land mine. “I remember watching it and thinking: why should a boy on his way to school have to go through what I go through every day of my life?
“If my work allows a child… to have the opportunity to live in peace or to rebuild their life after war, my life will have meant something. »
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