Benjamin Lowy

RECENT WORK: iLibya 3 | Aftermath

In the year following Gaddafi's fall from power Libya has been wracked by the growth pains of democracy common among the countries of the Arab Spring movement. Numerous revenge killing, rampant power hungry militias, crime, and the rise of fundamentalist Islamists have plagued the Libya's recovery.

With a grant from the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund I returned to Libya to document its first free elections in near half a century and to explore the growth of a country that is being torn apart.

I was also tasked with using social media platforms like Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook to immediately post images of Libya, bypassing traditional print venues and perhaps paving the way for a new type of interactive and immediate visual storytelling.

TRIPOLI, LIBYA - JULY 3: Young Libyans swim on a rubble strewn stone cornish during a hot summer day on July 3, 2012 in Tripoli, Libya.
  
ZINTAN, LIBYA - JULY 14: Omar, 26, sits in the car he drove to the front lines during last year’s Libyan uprising. He refuses to fix his windshield “the sniper’s round went past my head… This car took care of me, so I can’t change it.” But more than anything the windshield is a constant reminder to Omar of the life he took and the friends he lost. “The first time I killed … It was him or me. For three days after I cried and mumbled and thought I went crazy."
   
     
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 6: Libyan protesters supporting a federalist system rather than the proposed parliamentary Libyan government, converge at a busy roundabout in Benghazi to denounce the July 7th elections and burn election registration cards on July 6, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya.
   
SIRTE, LIBYA - JULY 16: Libyan residents of the city of Sirte walk through the ravaged remains of mortared and bullet riddled buildings on July 16, 2012 in Sirte, Libya. The city is home to a large population of Gaddafi’s tribe and still support the dead dictator. They feel that no national reconciliation is possible while they are policed by the Misrata militia and Islamist brigades.
  
MISRATA, LIBYA - JULY 17: Zakaria Muhammad, 28 was gravely wounded in April 2011. A howitzer round fired by the infamous Khamis Brigade took his leg, arm, part of his hand, and left him with a brain injury. The same attack killed his mother, his sister, and his niece. “I will always feel the pain… My whole family is dead, but when I entered the war it was for all of Libya… So that [my family’s] death is not in vain, I hope for reconciliation. [I] want it, [I] need it.”
     
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 6: Libyan protesters supporting a federalist system rather than the proposed parliamentary Libyan government, converge at a busy roundabout in Benghazi to denounce the July 7th elections and burn election registration cards on July 6, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya.
  
MISRATA, LIBYA - JULY 5: A heart shaped chair sits beside a bullet and mortar scarred wall along the City's infamous Tripoli street, the front line during the bloody siege of Misrata on July 5, 2012 in Misrata, Libya.
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 7: Libyan Federalists scream "Long Live Cyrenica," the ancient name of there state where Benghazi is based, as they flee an election polling station with voting cards and ballots to burn on July 7, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. Benghazi federalists, who believe their city, where the uprising against Gaddafi began, will be under represented in the new Libyan government.
     
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 7: Libyans rejoice with song and dance along the boardwalk of Benghazi after the voting for the first time in more than 40 years on July 7, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya.
  
LEPTIS MAGNA, LIBYA - JULY 18: Self identified Islamist and competitive hand-baller Fatah Rajeb, who lived and studied in Italy for five years before returning to Libya, works out among ancient Roman ruins on July 18, 2012 in Leptis Magna, Libya. Libyans hope that with the birth of a new democratic nation and with the right balance of their conservative Islamic values, the tourism industry in Libya will again flourish.
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 9: Ali, 83, a Tawarghan IDP stands outside his tent in a secluded desert displaced persons camp on July 9, 2012 near Benghazi, Libya. After defeating Gaddafi government forces, Rebels from Misrata destroyed the city of Tawargha, accusing residents of supporting Gaddafi and committing atrocities alongside pro-government forces in Misrata. All residents were forces to flee, many now virtual prisoners in IDP camps setup throughout the country. Many Tawarghan men are still targets of revenge killings by Misratan Militias and sympathizers.
     
  
TRIPOLI, LIBYA - JULY 4: Muaz, 16, makes his first visit to the remains on the Bab Aziza, Gaddafi’s former military and residential complex in the center of the City on July 4, 2012 in Tripoli, Libya. With little oversight and infrastructure, and the government yet to assert itself, former Gaddafi government buildings have been left open to looting, and in the case of the Bab Aziza, it has become a massive garbage dump.
   
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 9: Samir, an Eritrean migrant shot in Kufra by a Libyan militia member during his trek through the desert lies on a matt on July 9, 2012 in a migrant camp in Benghazi, Libya. The interim Libyan authorities have sequestered numerous migrants into DP camps. Many complain about their living conditions and the lack of security from armed Libyan militias. They are virtual prisoners within the camp. “Ramadan won’t be hard,” said one Somali man, “we are already starving.”
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 7: Libyan women wait in line to vote in the first free Libyan elections in decades on July 7, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya.
     
  
   
MISRATA, LIBYA - JULY 5: The sibling of the groom sits on a traditional wedding "throne" where male attendees of a wedding party await to greet and celebrate the grooms marriage along the ruins of Misrata’s infamous Tripoli Street on July 5, 2012 in Misrata, Libya.
  
BIR DUFAN, LIBYA - JULY 15: Miftah Ghzert, an officer with the Libyan Supreme Security Council, though primarily owing allegiance to the city of Misrata, mans a checkpoint on the road leading to the last enclave of Gaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid on July 15, 2012 in Bir Dufan, Libya. Libyan roads are now riddled with militia and police checkpoints, ostensibly for national security, though many are controlled by competing militias and groups of former revolutionaries.
     
  
SIRTE, LIBYA - JULY 16: Omar stands outside his bullet riddled family house in a neighborhood home to Gaddafi loyalists on July 16, 2012 in Sirte, Libya. Down the street from Omar, a graffiti artists scrawled a message proclaiming the street to be named the "Martyrdom of Brother Gaddafi avenue."
  
MISRATA, LIBYA - JULY 5: A young Libyan girls runs through the Misrata War Museum, which includes trophies of victory, ranging from Gadhafi's green chair to captured weapons, and a long room filled with hundreds of pictures of each martyr killed during the City's bloody siege by government forces on July 5, 2012 in Misrata, Libya.
  
     
  
   
SHAHHAT, LIBYA - JULY 8: In the ancient ruins of the Greek colony of Cyrene, a young girl named Libya is held by her father on July 8, 2012 in Shahhat, Libya. Libya was born in Benghazi on the day NATO began its bombing campaign to protect civilians from pro-Gaddafi forces on March 19, 2011.
   
TAWARGHA, LIBYA - JULY 5: A bullet pierced helmet lies in the middle of the street in the midst of an abandoned city just south of the Misrata on July 5, 2012 in Tawargha, Libya. After defeating Gaddafi government forces, Rebels from Misrata destroyed Tawargha, accusing residents of supporting Gaddafi and committing atrocities alongside pro-government forces in Misrata. All residents were forces to flee, many now virtual prisoners in IDP camps setup throughout the country. Many Tawarghan men are still targets of revenge killings by Misratan Militias and sympathizers.
     
  
   
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 9: Tawarghan IDPs build a new home from scavenged PVC piping in a secluded desert displaced persons camp on July 9, 2012 near Benghazi, Libya. After defeating Gaddafi government forces, Rebels from Misrata destroyed the city of Tawargha, accusing residents of supporting Gaddafi and committing atrocities alongside pro-government forces in Misrata. All residents were forces to flee, many now virtual prisoners in IDP camps setup throughout the country. Many Tawarghan men are still targets of revenge killings by Misratan Militias and sympathizers.
     
  
TRIPOLI, LIBYA - JULY 24: During the early morning hours after breaking their Ramadan fast, young Libyan men gather at a Tripoli pier to drift and drag race their cars on July 24, 2012 in Tripoli, Libya. In typical Libyan fashion, the over-the-top dragging display destroys the vehicles in favor of reckless showmanship.
   
MISRATA, LIBYA - JULY 16: Zajdoun, takes a break alongside a smelting oven in the Libyan Iron and Steel Company mill on July 16, 2012 in Misrata, Libya. Zajdoun has worked at the mill, the largest in North Africa, for 22 years. Most of the remaining staff have worked at the mill for over 20 years, with many young workers having been killed during the Arab Spring revolution against Gaddafi. Production at the mill, which once feed steel to international markets in down 50% and currently has an open recruitment drive.
  
MISRATA, LIBYA - JULY 5: The male attendees of a wedding party react to celebratory fireworks and RPG fire amid the ruins of Misrata’s infamous Tripoli Street on July 5, 2012 in Misrata, Libya.
     
  
HOMS, LIBYA - JULY 17: A Libyan boy sells fresh honey along the road to Tripoli on July 17, 2012 in Homes, Libya.
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 7: A young boy stands next to a voting booth while his father votes in the first free Libyan elections in decades on July 7, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya.
  
ZUWARAH, LIBYA - JULY 13: Young Libyan men relax in a car outside an abandoned and unsecured refinery abutting the sea. Many young men escape to swimming holes and secluded spots to relax away from the post revolutionary chaos of Tripoli.
     
  
   
TRIPOLI, LIBYA - JULY 17: A packed crowd of Libyan lawmakers, politicians, and journalists watch a memorial video honoring the fallen martyrs of the Libyan revolutionary war prior to the official results presentation of Libya's first elections in 4 decades on July 17, 2012 in Tripoli, Libya.
  
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 9: Tawarghan IDPs stand along the perimeter of a secluded desert displaced persons camp on July 9, 2012 near Benghazi, Libya. After defeating Gaddafi government forces, Rebels from Misrata destroyed the city of Tawargha, accusing residents of supporting Gaddafi and committing atrocities alongside pro-government forces in Misrata. All residents were forces to flee, many now virtual prisoners in IDP camps setup throughout the country. Many Tawarghan men are still targets of revenge killings by Misratan Militias and sympathizers.
     
  
TRIPOLI, LIBYA - JULY 19: Performing a job usually reserved for menial laborers from Bangladesh and sub-Saharan Africa, teenage Libyan expats from the US and the UK take part in a volunteer effort to clean the rubbish and debris from the streets on July 19, 2012 in Tripoli, Libya. “I just wanted to do something positive,” said Aisha, 13, from Manchester, UK.
   
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - JULY 9: Eritrean and Somali migrants congregate in an IDP camp that the interim Libyan authorities have sequestered them into on July 9, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. Many complain about their living conditions and the lack of security from armed Libyan militias. They are virtual prisoners within the camp. “Ramadan won’t be hard,” said one Somali man, “we are already starving.”
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
TRIPOLI, LIBYA - JULY 12: Two men walk past the half sunk remains of a Libyan Navy vessel bombed by NATO forces during the Arab Spring uprising a year earlier on July 12, 2012 in Tripoli, Libya.
  
BIR DUFAN, LIBYA - JULY 15: A dead brush sits in the back of a rebel truck, along with a heavy weapon used by soldiers from Zlintan and members of the Libyan Shield, a military umbrella group of various rebel militias, as they patrol the volatile desert region bordering the Gaddafi loyalist enclave of Bani Walid and revolutionary Misrata on July, 15, 2012 in Bir Dufan, Libya.
  
GHARYAN, LIBYA - JULY 23: In a dusty detention center, Illegal migrants from Niger wait to be processed and receive travel papers, enabling them to be repatriated via a UN chartered plane on July 23, 2012 in Gharyan, Libya. Libyan authorities have been increasing hostile to African migrants and the threat of deportation includes transportation via a truck through the blisteringly hot Sahara.
     
  
SIRTE, LIBYA - JULY 16: A lamppost, pierced by hundreds of rounds, still stands in a residential neighborhood on July 16, 2012 in Sirte, Libya. Down the street from Omar, a graffiti artists scrawled a message proclaiming the street to be named the "Martyrdom of Brother Gaddafi avenue."
  
GHARYAN, LIBYA - JULY 23: In a dusty detention center, Illegal migrants from Niger wait to be processed and receive travel papers, enabling them to be repatriated via a UN chartered plane on July 23, 2012 in Gharyan, Libya. Libyan authorities have been increasing hostile to African migrants and the threat of deportation includes transportation via a truck through the blisteringly hot Sahara.
   
     
  
TRIPOLI, LIBYA - JULY 3: A Libya teen runs through a flock of birds in the newly renamed Martyrs Square in the center of the Old CIty on July 3, 2012 in Tripoli, Libya.