Antonia Zennaro, born in 1980, is an Italian photographer, currently based in Hamburg, Germany. She is a freelance photographer who, next to her commissioned works for magazines and newspapers, is dedicated to long-term projects on social issues and creating social documents. Her book “Reeperbahn” was published in 2013.
Antonia Zennaro is represented by Zeitenspiegel Agency in Stuttgart, Germany and Contact Editions, London, UK. Antonia’s reportage on checkpoints in Libya appears in LFI, which she discusses below.
Q: Can you provide some background information on your Libyan reportage for LFI? What’s it about? What inspired the idea?
A: I was in Libya for one month in May. I came there because of a project called Peace Counts, provided by my agency Zeitenspiegel. We look for civil society and people who are building up their country peacefully. After three weeks my project was finished and I decided to stay longer as I was triggered by the country, its people and reality. I connected with Mirco Keilberth, a journalist friend who has lived in Libya for over two years, and he told me about the possibility to travel through the Sahara to the border, to make a story on the situation in the south of Libya. Mirco has worked hard for contacts and shared the story and access with me. To understand what Libya is about, you have to leave Tripoli.
The south, in Gaddafi times, was an important region as it is the door to Africa and connects Africa to Europe. Gaddafi knew very well that this region was his way to put pressure on the European states. He secured it heavily and opened the borders whenever he found it necessary to pressurize the neighbor countries. It is one of the most important routes for refugees, drugs and weapon smugglers. For the two years the borders have been open, the state has had no program for the security down there. The only ones who are trying to watch the vast border are young rebel groups, mostly from the Toubou minority. Working for free, without help, forgotten and faced with the lawlessness, they are struggling with the situation and trying to secure it where they can. We visited the young Toubou fighters at the Checkpoint Al Luer and spent some days with them, reporting their difficulties, problems and work.
Q: What approach do you take with your photography or what does photography mean to you?
A: I like to work on long-term projects documenting a topic by following up with it. Returning to the same country for some time, to understand the things live and understand the situation in which the country and people are in better. I am trying to give a voice to the forgotten, to the people who are not in the spotlight of the media anymore. I am interested in their human condition and the strength and power to move on with life.

Q: What camera and equipment did you use to shoot for this project? What made this equipment suitable for this work?
A: I was working on the field with a Leica M9 and a 35 mm lens.
In Libya it is very difficult to photograph in the streets and it is quite dangerous. A little camera like the Leica M9 saves you from troubles. The camera gave me a chance to move almost freely.
I enjoy very much the quality of the lens, the handling with the manual focus. And the possibility to breathe while photographing as the process is slower.
Q: Can you tell us why manual focus works best for you and tell us some more about the advantages of slowing down while shooting rather than taking the rapid-fire approach?
A: The slow approach is kind of a character I guess and a way to work. I am interested in the back story so taking my time and getting to know more and link the connections is my aim and is what I want to express and share.
Q: You noted that photography in the streets of Libya is quite dangerous. How do you deal with that and do you face any particular problems or prejudices as a female photographer in a Middle East country?
A: In Libya it is difficult to stay in the street and take pictures. You have to be aware of getting in trouble, but sure anything is possible, as always in life. So it is on you to feel if the situation is worth taking the picture or not. In every country or town you are in, it is good to adapt the right behavior and to know the mentality. The security is an issue at the moment in Libya as there are different militias fighting and taking over the power. I have never faced special problems or prejudices  because I am a woman in the Middle East. I was always treated with a lot of respect and could do my work.

Q: There are no people at all visible in two of the images, yet they speak volumes about the desolate nature of the border area and the human challenges it presents. Do you concur? Where did you shoot these images and what do they mean to you?

A: Those images are of checkpoints on the main road from Sebha to the border to Niger. All along the highway you find these checkpoints.
These young fighters have spent the last two years down on this border, without getting any money or help from Tripoli or the outside. Most of them have quit their studies to fight for a free and new Libya. Here they are patrolling, waiting for cars that go through their checkpoint.

Q: One image shows a seated figure in a scarf who looks like a lost soul, or a refugee trapped someplace he/she would rather not be. It is a sad picture and that feeling emphasized by the directional lighting. What’s this person’s story, and have I characterized it correctly?
A: In the picture it is night and the young fighter, a 21-year-old named Ali Bidi who from the beginning of the Revolution joined his friends to fight for his country. Here he is joining his friends at night duty and got handed over the key. The Sahara nights were warm at that time of the year, so the bed to rest is standing outside.

Q: One shot really captures the essence of an informal checkpoint with vehicles and baggage strewn everywhere. It also says something about the chaotic, unpredictable, and frustrating nature of such places. Have I got it right, where was this taken, and what were you thinking when you pressed the shutter release?
A: This is the border from Niger to Libya. The mercenaries have to pay at the checkpoint with benzine or other valuables. This scene happened when we were arriving in Tomo, the last checkpoint before the border. The car broke down and they had to share their goods to other cars.

Q: Overall, what do you think you have accomplished with your Libya coverage, and do you plan to return anytime soon? What is it about this particular human situation that has captured your imagination and concern?
A: With these pictures I could show how it looks like in the south, and what is going on there. The south is very important for the rest of the country; here there is oil, water, open borders. I am only showing a little part of all this, but it gives a dimension on the situation and problems of the country and makes one understand a piece of the whole picture.
Q: How do you see your photography evolving over, say, the next three years?
A: I am going on with my work and projects. At the moment I am in Colombia to work on the situation in this country — the displaced, their territories and their struggle and little steps with big hope and power.
I am trying to develop and to open up new ways and horizons to build on my work and develop it.  I want to get more international contacts, not working only for German media. But my big aim is to go on working on long-term projects, and give a voice to the hidden and the forgotten.
Thank you for your time, Antonia!
– Leica Internet Team
Please find Antonia’s full reportage in LFI 8/2013. Also available for the iPad. Visit Antonia’s website for more information.