
In This Episode
Tommy talks with war photographer Jonathan Alpeyrie about being held hostage by rebel fighters for nearly three months in Syria.
- NORTH EAST OSEETIA, SOUTH OSSETIA, GEORGIA – SEPTEMBER 20: The guide leading the recon unit into enemy territory is telling the men to wait while he checks out the surroundings for potential threat September 20, 2004 in Georgia. The guide put his mask as we are getting closer to the Cossack positions so he cannot be recognized. He is carrying a Russian uniform and gun, that he kept from his days in the Georgian army in the early 90’s. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA, 20 KM NORTH OF KENYAN BORDER – FEBRUARY 18: An OLF patrol is climbing a strategic elevated position overlooking the Ethiopian plain from the South, February 18th, 2006, in Ethiopia. This kinds of patrols are meant to make sure no Ethiopian militias are in ambush. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- SHELWATAY, TAGAB VALLEY, EASTERN AFGHANISTAN – JUNE 6TH: A local Afghan man is walking close to the command VAB for the 3RD company. At this point of the operation, the company CO is leading his men from inside it, gathering info, before the move Northward. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- SHELWATAY, TAGAB VALLEY, EASTERN AFGHANISTAN – JUNE 7TH: Soldiers from the 3RD company, 4TH platoon are counter attacking from the East side of the village in order to get closer to insurgent positions only a hundred yard away. Firing in getting intense and closer. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- SOUTH OF ETHIOPIAN BORDER, CENTRAL NORTHERN KENYA – FEBRUARY 3: OLF rebels are regrouping in Northern Kenya to safety, February 3rd, 2006, in Kenya. The OLF is organized militarily as a conventional army, with its platoon, battalion, regiments. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- August 18, 2014, 20KM South of Donetsk, Donbass, Ukraine. Separatists are burying 4 of theirs who died in fighting against the Ukrainian army. The men lost are locals from a small village South of Donetsk near the front lines, their final resting place will be in that same village. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- August 19, 2014, Maryanivka, Donbass, Ukraine. A shop keeper was killed by a shell while walking on the street. Ukrainian forces are inching closer to the besieged city of Donetsk where thousands of separatists have regrouped to hold one of their last remaining stronghold in the region. South of the city, the agglomeration of Maryanivka has been under intense shelling from government troops loyal to Kiev, killing civilians and soldiers alike, and forcing locals to take shelter in cellars around town. This fighting suggest a potential government ground offensive to retake Donetsk. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- May 2, 2015, Shirokino, Donbass Oblast, Ukraine. With the Minsk II cease fire accords, Russian backed separatists and the Ukrainian army were ordered to withdraw all heavy weapons from the front lines in order to give the peace plan a chance to work. On most of the 450KM front line the agreement worked except in a few flash points such as Lugansk, Peske near the Donetsk airport and Shirokino near the port of Mariupol. In the past two weeks, the fighting between the two forces has increased dramatically, therefore putting the cease fire agreement in doubt, as many fear the fighting will erupt all along the line as it did last February. Near Mariupol, volunteer battalions like the Azov and Donbass units are fighting each day in the small town of Shirokino to keep control of the strategic town from separatists forces. Heavy fighting erupts on a daily basis. A Donbass soldier just shot his RPG 7 at separatists troops. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- GALASHE, EASTERN OGADENIA, EASTERN ETHIOPIA – FEBRUARY 23RD: An ONLF soldier is taking a rest inside the destroyed town school during a sweep in the area for government soldiers, February 23rd 2009, in Ethiopia. The school was destroyed by government forces during their yearly stay, in order to make sure no one returns to their homes. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- GORI, NORTHERN GEORGIA – AUGUST 14TH. A family is morning the death of one of them who died during the bombings, on August 14th 2008, in Georgia. It is tradition to have a wake for a few days after the death of the person in question. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- TORA CAMP, SUROBI, EASTERN AFGHANISTAN – JUNE 1ST: French Foreign Legion troops from the 2ND parachute regiment are practicing their shooting skills near the Tora camp. They are escorted by a VAB, an French armored troop carrier. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
- TSKHINVALI, SOUTH OSSETIA – AUGUST 15TH. Ossetian women are cleaning the dead body of a fellow Ossetian, on August 15th 2008, in South Ossetia. It is said that 2000 civilians died in the war. (Photo by Jonathan Alpeyrie)
Show Notes:
- CBS: War photographer recounts escape from captors in Syria
- Parade: Photojournalist tells tale of survival in Syria
- British Journal of Photography: Photographer Jonathan Alpeyrie recounts Syrian hostage ordeal
- Narratively interview: I was kidnapped in the Middle East in 2013, last week I returned for the first time
- Vanity Fair: Journalists Missing in Syria
- NYT: Journalists in Syria in fear of risks of abduction