20 December 2011 Last updated at 10:15

Yemen: Looking back at a year of protest

Female relatives of slain protesters march down Sanaa's Ribat Street and towards the "Martyr's Cemetery" on 31 March.

When Luke Somers moved from London to Sanaa earlier this year, he never expected to give up his teaching career to become a photographer capturing Yemen's year of turmoil. The unrest has dominated Yemeni life and led to its long-time ruler, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, agreeing to transfer his power to his vice president.

Young men holding up an injured friend run through Sanaa on 13 March 2011

Mr Somers had only been in Sanaa for two weeks when he captured this image: "I was standing by at the anti-government protesters' camp while the afternoon prayers were performed. Gunfire crackled nearby, quieting the surrounding air; and wounded young men were soon rushed past by men with agitated faces."

President Ali Abdullah Saleh's supporters have also staged counter-demonstrations during the year. However Mr Somers worried that propaganda may have played its part: "Their message felt comparatively strained, and gave me little reason to doubt the rumours that many received payment for their shows of enthusiasm."

Children covered in foam after shaking a can in celebration of President Saleh's temporary departure for medical treatment on 5 June 2011

In June, President Saleh left Yemen for Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after he was injured in an attack. "The day after he departed, the opposition's 'tent city' teemed with families. Many protesters celebrated, and some performed the traditional Yemeni 'barra' dance involving the use of knives," Mr Somers said.

Protesters smiling as they look through an activist's tent in Sanaa on 13 June 2011

Mr Somers said the uprising has brought people together for now: "Mohammed, a friend and protester, told me that he had no siblings. But at the tent city he had found 'brothers'. But when I asked what he would do when the revolution ends, he predicted that he would again feel lonely."

Soldiers leading protesters in the streets of Sanaa on 14 June 2011

"Once they defected from the government army, 1st Armoured Division soldiers became instant heroes to the protesters," Mr Somers said. However, these units attempted to retain a neutral position in the conflict and tried to assume a general security role.

Bloodied man at a makeshift hospital in Sanaa on 18 September. The man was wounded when government security forces and plainclothes gunmen opened fire on a demonstration.

A lot of blood has been shed in the conflict. Mr Somers said he often saw loyalists firing on unarmed protesters and the smell of death remained on his clothes long after leaving the makeshift hospitals where he took images like this. But a UN report in September noted that authorities seemed to have "lost effective control of parts of the country and within the major cities, where armed opponents appear to have de facto control".

Posters of the dead plastered up for people to see. Pic date: 25/9/11

The dead are often described as "martyrs". Mr Somers said: "The photos of slain protesters that continue to adorn every imaginable surface at the opposition's camp are in some ways as real as the living. On a daily basis, men pass by photos of people they knew as friends; over time, other photos fray and eventually fade into the walls on which they were pasted."

Tawakul Karman in Change Square on 7 October 2011

Tawakul Karman symbolised hope when she was one of three women awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October. Hours later, as the Yemeni journalist and activist stood on the stage at Change Square, Mr Somers was among the crowd as thousands chanted, "Yemen, be happy! We have another Bilqis (Queen of Sheeba)".

Col Ahmed Zahar tries to rest in Sanaa on 18 November 2011.

Col Ahmed Zahar, who defected from the military to join the opposition protesters, tries to relax as he sits among mundane household items needed for day-to-day life. He told Mr Somers that the past 10 months have exhausted him: "I feel tired."

Middle East

Yemen: Looking back at a year of protest

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