This image is taken from Michel Setboun’s third book about agencies. Eighty reporters were chosen to comment on an iconic image taken during their careers. The image we’re publishing today is a picture by Cédric Gerbahaye.
“In the summer of 2007, during my first trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, I photographed a child soldier whose face I have never forgotten. The term “child soldier” is misleading, since they are more than soldiers, also serving as aides, spies, cooks and sex slaves. This photograph was taken in Goma, North Kivu DRC, on my fourth visit to the country.
At the Don Bosco center for victims of the conflict, 150 young people from different militia groups have just arrived. They are part of an ongoing process of demobilization and were disarmed in the bush the day before. A few days before that, the children and teenagers were still fighting in the hills. Now they must learn to live together and respect one another. After months as part of a rebel group or the regular army, they are returning for the first time to civilian life. The demobilization is often a painful experience for them and is seen as a loss of status. The atmosphere is tense. The presence of a foreign observer does’t go unnoticed. I spent a few days living and playing with them. They agree to be photographed, but they try to look tough. They’re acting. Occasionally, I take one aside for a portrait. Taking pictures is difficult in the Congo, it raises suspicion. If I treat them like children, they reject me. They feel like adults, having earned respect in their groups. Some of them were even commanders. Only in the last few days did they start to trust me and tell me what they had experienced. The relationship changed. The portraits were no longer the same. I took this picture on a truck taking us to Lake Kivu for a day of leisure. It was their first day outside the center. There’s an analogy between the purifying waters of the lake, all together, and the baptisms by Christian evangelists. These children leave behind their former lives, their weapons and clothing. Now they have to find a place in this new group and take on a new identity.”
Interview by Sarra Ben Chérifa
BOOK
40 ans de photojournalisme, Génération agences
by Michel Setboun & Marie Cousin
Editions de la Martinière
250 x 285 mm
240 pages
9782732464022
39 €
http://www.editionsdelamartiniere.fr
