From 1991 to 1998 the Swiss photographer Michael von Graffenried produced an extensive photographic report on the civil war in Algeria. Because Islamic terrorists had already murdered more than 60 journalists and photographers, he worked with a hidden camera. He shot his photographs from the hip, without looking through the lens. That has made Inside Algeria a very realistic report of everyday life in a country that is being torn apart by conflict, with on the one side supporters of an Islamic state and on the other supporters of democracy. Recently Von Graffenried returned to Algeria. He visited people whom he had previously photographed and recorded their stories on video under the title .
Michael von Graffenried (b. 1957) lives in Paris. He is a freelance photographer who has worked for publications including Life, Paris Match and The International Herald Tribune, and published thirteen photo books. In 1989 he won the World Press Photo Award for his report on the consequences of perestroika for the Russian art world.
