Giles Duley

He is the founder and CEO of the NGO Legacy of War Foundation.

=

Duley started his career as a music photographer after studying at Arts University Bournemouth (though he only completed the first year). During the 1990s he worked for publications such as Select, Q, Esquire, GQ and Arena, particularly photographing the Britpop movement. He worked with Oasis, the Prodigy, the Charlatans, Underworld and Pulp. He also photographed numerous international artists including Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and the Black Crowes. In 2000 Q Magazine voted his work amongst the greatest rock photos of all time.

In 2011, whilst on foot patrol with the US 75th Cavalry Regiment in Afghanistan, Duley stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED). He was severely injured, losing both legs and his left arm. It was only the quick response by the medic on patrol and the medevac crew that saved his life. He was treated in Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham where he spent 45 days in the intensive care unit nearly succumbing to his injuries on more than one occasion. After several months and multiple operations Duley began his rehabilitation at DMRC Headley Court. In 2012 Duley returned to work.

Following his rehabilitation, Duley returned to Afghanhistan to document the surgical hospital run by EMERGENCY in Kabul, which was covered by the Channel 4 programme Walking Wounded: Return to the Frontline. He has also presented documentaries for Channel 4's Unreported World. In 2022, he presented and produced six episodes of The One Armed Chef for VICE TV, a food and travel series described by the Guardian as “unmissable, warm-hearted films that don’t flinch from the realities of living in the shadow or aftermath of war” Duley has been interviewed for BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme and contributed to Last Word’s obituary of EMERGENCY founder Gino Strada following his passing in 2021. He has appeared on a number of podcasts including Catherine Fairweather’s Voices from the Frontline in collaboration with Frontline Club.

In 2017 Duley founded Legacy of War Foundation, a charity working to support communities affected by conflict. He is currently CEO of the organisation which operates in countries including Rwanda, Lebanon and Ukraine, and seeks to challenge neocolonial paradigms in the development sector with projects including Land for Women which buys and transfers land to women’s cooperatives. In 2022 street artist Banksy launched a limited run of unique screenprints in 2022 to raise funds for their work in Ukraine explaining, "in Ukraine I saw a Legacy of War team sweep in and provide medical aid, attention, heaters, fresh water and a friendly face to some very desperate people in a bombed out building. They also lent me one of their ambulances to work from, which turned out to be extremely useful when an angry babushka found me painting on her building and called the Police”. In 2023, the organisation partnered with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy's fundraising initiative United24 to fund the reconstruction of residential buildings in Kyiv oblast with a single released by Robert Del Naja of the band Massive Attack, and Sviatoslav Vakarchuk of Ocean Elzy. In 2023 Duley was announced as Angelia Jolie’s Corporate Impact Advisor for her New York-based Atelier Jolie. The pair were photographed by Annie Leibowitz for Vogue. From 2022-2025 Duley was the first United Nations Global Advocate for Persons with Disabilities in Conflict and Peacebuilding Settings. Following the completion of his three year term, he criticised the failure of the UN system as well as the performative inclusion of people with disabilities in advocacy. He is a campaigner for inclusivity in the creative industry, most especially within TV and photography.

• "And my realisation was this: food is the antithesis of war. Where war is about breaking apart communities and families, food is about bringing them together." Giles Duley, The Observer • "I thought, 'Right hand? Eyes?'"—he realized that all of these were intact—"and I thought, 'I can work.'" Giles Duley, NYT • It (loss of three limbs) is going to give me greater insight and empathy into people's suffering and hopefully put me in a better position to tell their stories. Because that's all I am, a storyteller." - Giles Duley, Becoming the Story. • "These photographs remind us of our humanity and of the need for understanding and compassion if we want a peaceful world and a just one. The great English poet John Donne once wrote "No man is an island..... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." What he said in words Duley's compelling photographs tell us in pictures. They are a must for anyone who values the unity, tragedy and potential of the human condition." - Lord Ashdown • "Different photographers can use the same camera or light, or all shoot the same frame. But what is different is the soul of the person behind the lens, and the moments they recognize and are drawn to—the emotional connection they make. That is what I love about Giles’s photography. Looking at his images, we can feel what he feels. It’s clear that he connects deeply to the human condition of people from all over the world. He himself has been through an ordeal. They say that adversity helps grow compassion, and Giles’s art certainly seems to bear that out." - Angelina Jolie

*