Reuters Photographs of the Violence in Ivory Coast

Covering the bloody conflict was hard. Mr. Gbagbo’s thugs and militant Young Patriots were violently opposed to any Western influence, which also meant foreign journalists. Reuters relied heavily on the Ivorian photographers Luc Gnago and Thierry Gouegnon to navigate through the local tensions, but often even they could not cover Gbagbo rallies without risk. An important photo of Mr. Gbagbo, defeated and grim-faced in the Golf Hotel room, was obtained from an Ivorian photographer who had been trapped there with Ouattara and his besieged entourage for weeks as food and water ran out (Slide 10). He still does not want his name used for security reasons.