With the number of new Ebola cases in decline in Liberia — in the last week of January, only five new infections were reported — the West African country is slowly returning to life as usual, as Getty Images photographer John Moore witnessed on his latest trip there.
This past month, as Moore returned to Liberia, he looked to bring the story full circle. “I tried to turn the focus from death to life,” he tells TIME. “I felt I owed that to the story, the people there — and to myself. The photos we make now live forever on the Internet — and also within ourselves. Those previous visits produced some very dark moments in pictures, and in my own memories. This time, I reached more toward the light.”
There’s no denying that the situation in Liberia was catastrophic last year. “There was so much fear during the height of the epidemic,” says Moore. “The only way to stop the spread of the virus was for people to stop touching each other, especially in times of sickness and death.”
As a result, Liberians had to demolish their own social fabric: raised in a very tactile culture, suddenly they had to be suspicious of any person displaying symptoms, and stop embracing each other altogether.
Harrowing Images of Liberia's Ebola Outbreak
Women pray for an end of the Ebola epidemic on Aug. 14, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore—Getty ImagesA girls runs as a burial team prepares to collect the dead body of a woman suspected of dying of the Ebola virus on Aug. 14, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesA burial team from the Liberian health department prays before entering a house to remove the body of a woman suspected of dying of the Ebola virus on Aug. 14, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesKorpo Klay watches as a Liberian health department burial team prepares to enter the home of her deceased cousin Kormassa Kaba, who was suspected of dying of the Ebola virus on Aug. 14, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesA burial team from the Liberian health department sprays disinfectant over the body of a woman suspected of dying of the Ebola virus on Aug. 14, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesPeople watch as a son prepares his father to be taken to an Ebola isolation center on Aug. 15, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesA son tries to prepare his father in their one-room home before they are taken to an Ebola isolation ward on Aug. 15, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesA Liberian health worker speaks with families in a classroom now used as Ebola isolation ward on Aug. 15, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesIbrahim Fambulle, sick and weak, tries to stand as a corpse lies nearby in an Ebola ward on Aug. 15, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesUmu Fambulle stands over her husband Ibrahim after he staggered and fell, knocking him unconscious in an Ebola ward on Aug. 15, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesBatu Flowers tries to convince local residents that the Ebola epidemic is real on Aug. 16, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesA man carries out a girl from an Ebola isolation center as a mob overruns the facility in the West Point slum on Aug. 16, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesA woman wipes her nose after protesters drove out an Ebola burial team who had come to collect the bodies of four people who had died overnight in the West Point slum on Aug. 16, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesA Liberian burial team wearing protective clothing retrieves the body of a 60-year-old Ebola victim from his home on Aug. 17, 2014 near Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesWorkers prepare the new Doctors Without Borders Ebola treatment center on Aug. 17, 2014 near Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesHanah Siafa lies with her daughter Josephine, 10, while hoping to enter the new Doctors Without Borders , Ebola treatment center on Aug. 17, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesHanah Siafa walks in the rain with her children Josephine, 10, and Elija, 6, while waiting to enter the new Doctors Without Borders, Ebola treatment center on Aug. 17, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesUNICEF health workers walk through the streets, going house to house to speak about Ebola prevention on Aug. 18, 2014 in New Kru Town.John Moore—Getty ImagesPublic health advocates play music to attract people for an Ebola awareness and prevention event on Aug. 18, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesLocal residents watch public health advocates stage street performances at an Ebola awareness and prevention event on Aug. 18, 2014 in Monrovia.John Moore—Getty ImagesMattresses that were looted from an isolation center for Ebola patients, local residents said, float in a seaside dump in the West Point slum in Monrovia on Aug. 19, 2014.John Moore—Getty ImagesLocal residents discuss how to help a very sick boy, 10, in a back alley of the West Point slum in Monrovia on Aug. 19, 2014. The boy was one of the patients who was pulled out of a holding center for suspected Ebola patients when the facility was overrun by a mob on Saturday.John Moore—Getty ImagesA very sick boy, 10, lies in a back alley of the West Point slum in Monrovia on Aug. 19, 2014. The boy was one of the patients who was pulled out of a holding center for suspected Ebola patients when the facility was overrun by a mob on Saturday. A local clinic refused to treat the boy on Tuesday, according to residents, because of the danger of infection.John Moore—Getty Images
But on his most recent trip, Moore witnessed a marked change in behavior. “Seeing people interact again as physically affectionate human beings was most inspiring to me,” he says. “I photographed a wedding reception, where everyone openly embraced; beaches, where Monrovians relax on Sunday afternoons, enjoying the sun and playing soccer; groups posing together for photos; church services, students registering for schools due to open this month.”
Of course, Liberia is still not in the clear. “There is still the danger that the epidemic could resurge,” says Moore. “So all deaths, both of natural and unnatural causes, are being treated with extreme caution. The Liberian Red Cross burial teams continue to wear personal protective equipment to collect bodies. Only now, instead of sending them for cremation, they take the deceased to the new cemetery and families are permitted to watch the ‘safe’ burials.”
This has helped quash the epidemic in the capital, says Moore, “as many families were reluctant to give up their dead for cremation,” because it doesn’t conform with tradition.
Today, with many more Ebola treatment centers in place than at the height of the outbreak, there is no shortage of care for those infected. “The aid has greatly helped in treating those who come down with Ebola in recent months and in bringing the numbers of new infections down so much,” says Moore. “In addition to the Ebola centers, most Liberian clinics and hospitals that treat people for both routine and emergency health problems have reopened, although a critical shortage of doctors persists nationwide.”
On his last day in Liberia, Moore visited Redemption Hospital, a treatment center in the capital city of Monrovia that became one of the country’s most notorious Ebola holding centers. “This time, mothers were bringing in their infants for routine vaccinations and people were being cared for,” he says. “Also in Redemption, the National Institutes of Health launched its Ebola vaccination trials. Though too late to help the victims of this past outbreak, if the vaccine is successful, it could save thousands of lives next time — and with Ebola, there will be a next time.”
John Moore is a staff photographer with Getty Images.
Phil Bicker, who edited this photo essay, is a senior photo editor at TIME.
Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him onTwitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent
Boys play on the beach next to the Atlantic Ocean in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesA girl collects her family's laundry after drying it on a rooftop in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesChildren sit outside her home in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesChildren celebrate a soccer goal while playing in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesA boy hangs off a fishing boat next to the Atlantic Ocean in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesEbola survivor and nurse's aid Benetha Coleman comforts an infant girl with Ebola symptoms in the high-risk area of the Doctors Without Borders' Ebola Treatment Unit on Jan. 26, 2015 in Paynesville, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesGroom Clarence Murvee takes his bride Bindu Quaye by the waist while entering their wedding reception on Jan. 24, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesA pile of broken chairs and desks lie in the corner of the Tubman High School gymnasium on Jan. 27, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesA boy carries fried fish for sale in the West Point township on Jan. 24, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesA congregation stands during a Sunday service at the Bethel World Outreach Church in the West Point township on Jan. 25, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesPeople await medical treatment in the outpatient lounge of Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on Feb. 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesPeople await treatment in the outpatient lounge of Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on Feb. 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesA placard with information on identifying Ebola symptoms lies in the outpatient waiting room of Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on Feb. 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesA nurse administers an injection on the first day of the Ebola vaccine study being conducted at Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on Feb. 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesWorkers renovate a pediatric ward which had been used as an Ebola holding center at Redemption Hospital on Jan. 29, 2015 near Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesA burial team member wearing personal protective equipment stands for decontamination spray at the U.S.-built cemetery for safe burials on Jan. 27, 2015 in Disco Hill, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesA Liberian Red Cross burial team prepares to test the body of a toddler for Ebola while collecting it from a home in the West Point township on Jan. 28, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesCross maker Anthony Johnny prepares fresh grave markers for the Christian section of the U.S.-built cemetery for safe burials on Jan. 27, 2015 in Disco Hill, Liberia.
John Moore－Getty ImagesMidwife Maima Johnson hands a newborn girl to mother Cecelia Mensah, 20, after delivering the child at the Star of the Sea Health Center on Jan. 29, 2015 in the West Point township of Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesA grave digger works in the U.S.-built cemetery for "safe burials" on Jan. 27, 2015 in Disco Hill, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesA caretaker stands in a kindergarten on Jan. 27, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesA Liberian Red Cross burial team carries a body for a safe burial after collecting it from a home in the West Point township on Jan. 29, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesDecontaminated stretchers and Ebola-fighting material stand aside in the Doctors Without Borders' Ebola Treatment Unit, on Jan. 26, 2015 in Paynesville, Liberia. John Moore－Getty ImagesMattresses and bed frames burn as Doctors Without Borders , staff dismantle much of the Ebola Treatment Unit, on Jan. 31, 2015 in Paynesville, Liberia.John Moore－Getty ImagesA young girl stands outside her home in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images
