The Doodles of War

Before his death in Libya in 2011, I had the great pleasure of talking with Tim Hetherington on a few occasions. Though it was usually over the phone while he was covering the latest geopolitical disaster, he was always generous with his time and offered great insight into whichever depressing warzone he had thrown himself into. Seeing as his friend and co-director Sebastian Junger's documentary about Hetherington is showing at Sundance Festival this week, we thought we'd revisit his photos from the Liberian Civil war.

The child soldiers of Liberia have taken street art to another level. Tim Hetherington, winner of the World Press Photo of the Year in 2007, took these terrifying photos during the blood-drenched civil war over there a few years back. The childlike scrawls of rape, violence and intimidation are pretty grim, but it all gets out of hand when you see the cupboard with “room of pain” etched on it. We spoke to Tim about Liberia, child soldiers and the 90s Liberian graffiti scene.

VICE: What was going on in Liberia when you took these photos?

Tim Hetherington:

Did you see the people who did these?

Were they kids, or just not great at drawing?

Were these drawings done in buildings occupied by the artists?

It looks like a scary place. Were there any close shaves on your trip?
Liberia went through some very dark times during the war. A lot of people were terrorised and it’s estimated 200,000 died. There was no rule of law or justice, just angry young men rampaging with weapons. I lived there during some of the hard times of the war, but also stayed on to see the country transformed from the criminal enterprise it had become. Anyone who lived in Liberia during the war would have seen some pretty bad things. For more Tim Hetherington, visit timhetherington.com