Rebel Lives

Rebel Lives is built on an archive of photographs taken by Lord's Resistance Army commanders themselves between 1994 and 2003. The photographs show life within the group and depict the rebels as they want to be seen, both among themselves and by the outside world.

The LRA is a rebel group notorious for its extreme violence and large-scale abductions of children, who were used as child soldiers or forced 'wives'. Led by Joseph Kony, the LRA became active in northern Uganda during the second half of the 1980s.

These images bear witness to how abductees tried to live within extremely violent circumstances, but also portray a surprising normality. Together with Professor Kristof Titeca, who collected this material over several years, we traced and photographed the former rebels in their current context.

Rebel Lives tells a story where the line between victim and perpetrator is blurred, where people struggle to survive, and where children in particular bear the brunt of this tension.