Photographing the complexities of the world | Véronique de Viguerie | TEDxParis

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED conferences.
From Afghanistan to the Niger Delta, Véronique de Viguerie has closely studied theaters of conflict around the world in order to understand their complexities. From her perspective, the world cannot be seen in black and white.

I chose a profession that allows me
to go places you can't go.

I am a photojournalist.

My job is also sometimes to show you

things you don't want to see.

Ironically, my job is
to show you the gray areas.

For me, it all started
in Afghanistan in 2004.

I showed up very biased,
full of preconceived ideas,

and honestly, that worked well for me.

The next year, I got caught
in a suicide bombing.

Miraculously I came out uninjured,

but I got a tough reality check.

In 2006 I was embedded with U.S. soldiers.

I didn't know them,

but I couldn't stand them, I hated them.

For me they were brutes
who were mistreating the Afghans.

Stuck there together, we waited.

We waited for something to happen,

and eventually, I started
to think they were nice, funny,

I started to become attached to them.

But one evening Mike, at only 19,
burst out laughing and told me:

"Once I fired a missile at a guy.

I thought he was a member of the Taliban.

He turned into a flaming torch
and ran around like a crazy chicken."

Everyone laughed,

but it didn't make me laugh.

Yet, I came to realize that with time,
war dehumanizes the enemy

and makes the person
on the other mean nothing.

And yet, I met that person
on the other side.

Eric de la Varenne, Claire Billet, and I
were the first westerners

to meet members of the Taliban.

Claire and I had to wear our burkas.

Here's my secret to make
the fenced-in vision more bearable,

I have a little trick.

I crank my iPod up the whole way
with Madonna's "Like a virgin."

That's my little revenge.

After a long road traveled in silence

and in sweltering heat,

finally, there they were,
it was really them.

The young soldiers come towards us

and welcome us with cakes and juice,

and then start taking selfies
with us and laughing.

They used their limited
supply of English words,

we all ended up relaxing,
and all of a sudden

(Music)

one of their ringtones.

(Laughter)

These were the Taliban?

In reality, I was most shocked

by the things the young American GIs
and the young insurgents had in common.

So I made a choice that may be offensive
or unsettling, but that I find relevant

to highlight the similarities
of these enemies,

even though these enemies
don't think of each other as people.

But it's a war,
and in a war, there are victims.

August 18, 2008,

ten French soldiers and their fixer
were killed in an ambush in Uzbin.

I was sent to cover the Afghan side.

Experience has taught me
that after every attack,

there is an air strike retaliation.

Three villages near where
the ambush took place were bombed.

There were casualties,
civilian casualties.

I had to go to the site, but the zone
was controlled by the Taliban,

so I had to request their permission.

And it starts all over again:

a burka, a long road, an escort,

and anxiety, I'm scared.

And all of a sudden, there are
silhouettes descending the hill.

It's them.

I explain my plan to the leader,
but he refuses.

I insist, and then I notice
that one of them

is carrying a weapon
that seems really modern.

I ask him what it is.

He replies that it's one of the weapons
taken from the body of a slain soldier.

In fact, without knowing it,

I had come face to face with
the insurgents responsible for the ambush.

So, for taking the photos you just saw,

I received death threats.

My parents received terrible letters,

and they even lost friends.

I was accused of having paid
the Taliban 50,000 euros

which of course is stupid
and completely unrealistic.

For one thing, for ethical reasons
we never pay the people we photograph.

Secondly, our reporters never walk around
with that much money on them.

I have also been accused
of spreading their propaganda.

On that point, let's be clear.

Whenever a group,
whether it's the Taliban or even the army,

decides to give a journalist
some of their time,

you can be sure they have
a message to get across.

I have also been accused
of being unpatriotic

or of betraying my country.

Why? Because I dared
to show the enemy's face?

Well, I don't believe I disrespected
the lives of the fallen soldiers,

although I understand that it
could be difficult for their families,

yet some parents thanked me

because they were longing
for the truth even if it hurt.

In no way do I seek to justify

the horrible acts
committed by the Taliban.

I just want to give you
as much information as I can

so you can have the facts
to come to your own conclusions.

It's true it would be simpler

if everyone in the world
was either a good guy or a bad guy,

but this is war, and in war,
that's rarely the case.

War is neither black nor white,

it's dirty, it's gray.

In fact, I've seen these gray areas
in many other countries.

In particular in the Niger delta,

an area ruined by oil.

Nothing grows there,
and there's nothing to fish.

Meanwhile, the local rulers
fill their pockets.

That's when MEND came along: the Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

They hide out in the mangrove swamp,
and their thing is kidnapping,

attacking oil rigs, and controlling
the black market for oil.

Both Manon Quérouil,
the journalist I work with, and I

really wanted to meet Ateke,

one of the big leaders of these
modern day so-called Robin Hoods.

So, as you can see, the Robin Hood
we ended up meeting

was short, chubby, and uninspiring.

He welcomed us sprawled out on his sofa
with a lukewarm bottle of Veuve Clicquot.

In fact, for some time now,
things are much easier for them

because they are paid directly
by the oil companies

so they won't attack them.

So they have lots of cash,
and they're just bored.

Girls from the area, drawn by
the goose with the golden eggs,

come to entertain these men.

Incidentally, this little chubby man
fell for my friend.

I had to be the big sister,
and explain to him

that in France we get married
before we sleep together.

Well, he seemed a little doubtful,

but he finally accepted
to send us back to town

so we could have a girls' shopping trip.

Needless to say, Ateke is still
waiting for his runaway fiancee.

Ateke, who was
long public enemy number one,

today is a close friend
of the new president, Jonathan Goodluck,

and, apparently, one
of the country's wealthiest men.

So in fact these Robin Hoods,
are just regular thugs?

Black and white is for fairy tales,
real life comes in color.

It's more troubling, more complicated,
but it's more interesting.

And Nigeria is very familiar
with these complex situations.

I was able to see this again working
on a report in the north on Boko Haram.

Manon and I were not able to meet them,

but we came to realize
that Boko Haram's roots

were much more complex
and much older than they seemed.

In fact, for over ten years now,
a real war is being waged

between the Nigerian army
and Boko Haram.

And it's a war without mercy;
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

The Nigerian army burns madrassas,
Boko Haram burns schools.

The Nigerian army abducts
women and children

suspected to have ties
with members of the sect,

Boko Haram abducts young girls.

The truth is that the north of the country

was completely abandoned
by the government in the south.

The northerners, left to their
own defenses, naturally, became resentful.

Boko Haram took advantage
of this resentment to draw in the youth;

and the near criminal behavior
of this corrupt army

led to a series of abominations
each one more tragic than the last,

until, as we all remember,
the abduction of 219 high school girls

that finally managed to get our attention.

So, let us be clear:
nothing we were able to discover

justified the abduction
and enslavement of young girls.

Seeking out the enemy
does not mean defending them,

and I do not want to become a spokesperson
for the Taliban, MEND, or Boko Haram.

I am in no way trying to justify
or defend their revolting actions,

I just want to allow you
to understand them better,

so you might have the knowledge,
to think in an informed manner.

Because I believe that sometimes,

knowing more, understanding better,
helps in finding the solution,

and that many errors
could have been avoided

with a better understanding
of the people and the territory.

So we clearly see that black
and white doesn't work

because in Afghanistan, the youth fighting
on both sides are not that different.

Because MEND and other Robin Hoods
are thugs like any other,

because the roots of Boko Haram
are very complex.

So, it's true that black and white
is nicer, it's more elegant,

but it's simplistic,
and most of all, it's false.

Color is not an absolute, it's
more blurred, but it's closer to reality.

So I want to continue
to introduce you to these insurgents,

these revolutionaries, these terrorists,

so that you can come
to informed conclusions.

That is why we reporters are there,

and sometimes risk our lives.

We go where you cannot go,

show you what, sometimes,
you don't want to see.

You have a right to know
the truth, so demand it.

(Applause)