Giles Duley was born in 1971 in London. After 10 years as an editorial photographer in the fashion and music industries in both the US and Europe, he decided to abandon photography and left London. In 2000, he returned to photography, personally funding trips to document the stories of those affected by conflict across the world.
Giles is the founder of the Legacy of War Foundation, a non-profit organization that documents the impact of conflict.
In 2011, Duley lost both legs and his left arm after stepping on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Afghanistan whilst photographing those caught up in the conflict. He was told he would never walk again and that his career was over. However, characteristically stubborn, Duley told his doctors ‘I’m still a photographer’, and returned to work in Afghanistan, less than 18 months later, with a Channel 4 crew to document the stories of people injured in the conflict. In the documentary that resulted from his trip, ‘Walking Wounded: Return to the Frontline’, Duley visits EMERGENCY’s Surgical Centre in Kabul and meets the patients hospitalised there.
Through his work, Duley captures the strength of those who fight their adversity rather than succumb. His photographs draw the viewer to the subject, creating intimacy and empathy for lives differing from ours only in circumstance.
