On a second reporting trip to Libya I photographed away from the frontlines in Eastern Libya
A long ways from any fighting, children in the small sea village of Sosa swim in the quiet port. The village has a large hotel built beside an archeological site, but tourism has dried up with the outbreak of fighting.David Degner / FreelanceA bull roams freely in the woods near the Shehat Archeological Site Libya, the Green Mountains are a large fertile area in eastern Libya characterized by rolling hills and farms.David Degner / FreelanceThe small town of Beida is one of the places the first places where fighting broke out in the streets. Today it’s main square is filled each night with soccer games, music, and plays commemorating the revolution.David Degner / FreelanceWhile just 15 years old, this man fought beside Omar Mukhtar against the Italian colonization of Libya.David Degner / FreelanceThe wall of a community room in Derna’s main mosque commemorates locals that have been killed by Gaddafi’s forces throughout the city’s long history of rebellion. It includes the photos of political prisoners who died in a prison massacre, soldiers that were shot for refusing orders, rebels from a 1996 uprising, and the latest youth that died on the street in Derna, and at the front.David Degner / FreelanceA conference for women’s issues in the future constitution is one of the few places to hear dissenting voices about how women are treated by the government. There are many highly educated women in Libya, one group of professors sayed their masters level classes were 90% female. But it is hard for women to get jobs outside of the house or outside of the country.David Degner / FreelanceThe Friday market in Shehat is divided into sections for livestock, fruits, vegetables, equipment and pigeons. Pigeons are a surprisingly popular hobby with the market, rivaling Cairo’s in size, even though the local area has only a small fraction of Cairo’s population. Many other hobbies such as soccer, music and movies were systematically suppressed by the government out of fear of any cult of personality that could rival Gaddafi. Soccer games were announced using just numbers, songs had to include references to Gaddafi, and artists that became too successful were given posts overseas.David Degner / FreelanceOn the edge of Sosa children play a game of dodging large waves and swimming in the surf.David Degner / FreelanceDerna, a city famous for the large number of fighters that traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan now sends many of it’s young men to fight on the front in Libya. Many people describe the lack of freedom, opportunity, and government abuse as pushing the youth toward violent international jihads but now the trend has changed. Young men are either going to fight against Gaddafi or staying in the city in hopes of the future opportunity.David Degner / FreelanceA boy helps his grandfather water their orchard in the fertile valley surrounding Beida. While the war is the first issue many other issues have been delayed, such as the lowering of the natural aquifers that much of the Green Mountains agriculture relies on. This farmer says that 3 of his 4 wells have gone dry.David Degner / FreelanceAt a house on the edge of Shehat neighbors the doors often stay open and neighbors constantly visit and help each other. Electricity is cut for a few hours every day, water deliveries have stopped giving credit, and hard currency has stopped circulating. The former government payed monthly sums to unemployed and underemployed.David Degner / FreelanceIn a small photo studio in Tobruk, Libya a photographer wants to take my photo.David Degner / FreelanceThe archaeological ruins of Shehat are impressive evidence of the Cyrenaica civilization that predated Islam in Northern Africa. With no tourists around, it has once again returned to the locals as a park for picnickers and school groups.David Degner / FreelanceOutside Beida a farmer works with his family to water their pear and peach orchard. Libya had a large population of immigrant workers from the middle east and eastern asia, but the revolution forced many of them to return home.David Degner / Freelance