Giles Duley

Giles Duley, an honorary member of the Royal Photographic Society, worked for ten years as an accomplished photographer in the fields of fashion and music. Then, tired of the world of celebrities, he decided to give up photography, left London and assisted a person in need of care full-time. It was in this role that he rediscovered his craft and the power it has to tell the stories of the voiceless. In 2000 he returned to photography, funding by himself his travels to document the work of various NGOs and the stories of those affected by conflict around the world.

In 2011, while documenting the conflict in Afghanistan, Duley lost both legs and his left arm after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED). He is told he would never walk again and that his career is over. However, with his trademark stubbornness, Duley tells the doctors ‘I’m still a photographer’ and, less than 18 months later, he is back at work. Since then, Duley has worked in Lebanon and Jordan, and returned to Afghanistan in October 2012, to complete his original assignment.

Duley is a member of the Italian NGO Emergency and an ambassador for Sir Bobby Charlton’s landmine charity, Find A Better Way. In 2013, he won the May Chidiac Award for Courage in Journalism, the AIB Founders Award for Outstanding Achievement, and was elected an honorary member of the Royal Photographic Society.