The influence of contemporary culture on young combatants in West Africa (1989-2003) explored through the archives of trans-media journalist Hethering

This study examines the ways in which youth combatants in the civil wars of Sierra Leone (1992 - 2001) and Liberia (1989 - 2003) engaged with both local and visual cultures to produce the imagery which suggested their understanding in both their immediate and larger surroundings. Current scholarship on visual cultures and war in West Africa leans towards focusing on either a specific element of the global, for example hip hop music and film icons, or prioritises aspects of the local, including magical practises. There has yet to be a systematic analysis of which visual cultures are utilised by youth combatants with a consideration of how the local and the global may interact. By considering the currently unexplored notion of the photographic performance this thesis explores not only the collision and entanglement of global and local, but also the negotiation of youthscapes, warscapes and mediascapes. By utilising the archive of British photographer Tim Hetherington and the work of other photographers and combining this with fieldwork interviews, it furthers the current understanding of the feedback loop and as such our understanding of youth in conflict.