Yuri Kozyrev: My Year On Revolution Road

December 14, 2011 5:40 AM EST

In 2011, Yuri Kozyrev traveled to seven countries covering protests and uprisings for TIME, including Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Russia, Greece and Tunisia. Here, he writes about the remarkable experience and what all the revolutions had in common.

It’s unique that I’ve been able to cover all these uprisings and revolutions during the year. I’m lucky—it’s incredibly complicated to understand where you need to go when you’re on the ground, and I was lucky to have a lot of help. The protests were well under way when I got to Tahrir Square in late January, and their size and scope took my breath away: in two decades of covering the Middle East, I had never encountered anything like this. There was huge fighting between the pro-government supports and revolutionaries. Some of the journalists were beaten. Some of them lost their cameras. They kicked me out, but I managed to get back in the next morning. I saw a lot of families—not just young men or revolutionaries—and everyone was helping each other, praying together. It was a great time. Everybody was waiting for Mubarak to make the right decision, and suddenly it happened. And it was so emotional: people crying, shouting, screaming…it was incredible. The next morning, it was over. The army was kicking everyone out. They weren’t friendly—there was a feeling of ‘You got what you wanted. Now, get out.’ Of all the revolutions I covered, Egypt was the most special.

The mood at the Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain was very different from Tahrir Square. In the first days, I saw men in white robes approach police with flowers, offerings of peace: the response was tear-gas and live rounds. There was a huge difference between this army and the Egyptian army. People from Bahrain—there was no way they could even talk to the army who had arrived from Saudi Arabia. There was no way for me to get to Pearl Square, so a few journalists and I watched what was happening from the hotel. There was one hospital where all the protesters were gathered together. And then the doctors did something incredible. Not all of them supported the protesters, but they gave them shelter at the hospital and saved a lot of lives. I had a chance to go back to Bahrain after they demolished Pearl Square, and again a few weeks ago, and I saw young people who’d lost one eye to rubber bullets. It was just so sad, and I just saw some of them. I know there were many more.

In Yemen, it was very different. There was no Facebook. Change Square was still packed, but the feeling of revolution was more religious, more conservative. There was an invisible border for protesters to stay behind, and the army would shoot anyone who tried to cross this line. I saw so many young people were ready to cross the line, marching to die. And around Change Square, there were hundreds of pictures of people who’d died. In Egypt, I saw protest signs and other things, but in Yemen, it was just pictures of young faces. Whether or not President Saleh will relinquish power, the political crisis in Yemen will likely remain acute, not only because of its tribal culture and topography, but also because of its deep poverty, high illiteracy and birth rates, and deeply entrenched government corruption.

Libya was different because it was more of a civil war than a revolution. It was here that I took one of my favorite pictures of the year. It was taken on the front lines near Ras Lanuf, Libya. It was near an oil refinery factory that was important for both sides—both the rebels and government. I took this picture on March 11, when Gaddafi’s military could still fly, and they were flying around, dropping bombs on the rebels. It was really scary for everybody on the front lines—suddenly, you could hear the plane coming and the bombs hitting their targets. These men were the shabab, young people who weren’t professional fighters and didn’t have weapons or training. They’re not rebels, but eager to be on the front lines. They’re jumping because they heard the planes coming, so they’re running around trying to find any place to hide, which is hard because everything is flat and exposed. You can see from the picture that none of them have any weapons—they were scared—and it was just an incredible experience to be there.

Beyond these main four revolutions, I also traveled to cover the protests in Moscow, Greece and Tunis. I came to the conclusion that each revolution must be assessed in its own context, because each had a distinctive impact. The drama of each revolution unfolded separately. Each had its own heroes, its own crises. Each, therefore, demands its own narrative. In the end, the differences between them may turn out to be more important than their similarities, however. And the common thing about all these protests is the number of young people who really want to bring changes to their country. That’s what’s most incredible. We have a new generation of people who are sick and tired of what’s going on. Call it the Jasmine Revolution, the Arab Spring or the Facebook Revolution, there’s a powerful Sirocco blowing across the world, and young people realize there’s another life and they want to live differently.

Yuri Kozyrev is a contract photographer for TIME who has covered the Arab Spring since January.

MORE: See the entire 2011 Person of the Year package here

**Cairo, Egypt — February 1, 2011** Demonstrators calling for the end of the Hosni Mubarak regime lift another demonstrator during a march on Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 1, 2011** Thousands of Egyptians flooded Cairo after Mubarak refused to step down.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 2, 2011** To win the army over to their side, protest leaders urged the people to "hug a soldier."Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 3, 2011** Anti-Mubarak protesters throw rocks.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 4, 2011** After repelling pro-regime attacks in two days of bloody street fights, tens of thousands of anti-Mubarak protesters packed central Cairo, waving flags and singing the national anthem.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 4, 2011** Evening prayer at Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 4, 2011** Wounded anti-government protesters march through Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 6, 2011** Anti-government protesters take refuge from the rain under a plastic tarp in Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 7, 2011** Anti-government protesters lay under a makeshift tent in Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 7, 2011** Egyptian anti-goverment demonstrators wave Egyptian flags and shout slogans against Mubarak.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 8, 2011** Anti-government protesters under makeshift tenting in Tahrir Square during the second week of protests.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 8, 2011** "I really wanted to be part of [the revolution] and support it ... I didn't want the people who had died, and the ones who had protested every day, to pay the price alone for what all Egyptians would benefit from." —Fatma Gaber, 16, studentYuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 11, 2011** Anti-government demonstrators celebrate upon hearing the news of Mubarak's resignation.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 11, 2011** Protesters celebrate Mubarak's resignation, signaling a transition to temporary military control of the country.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 11, 2011** Anti-government protesters walk under a banner showing portraits of fallen protesters in Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — February 13, 2011** Protesters react after the army ordered their encampments to be torn down in Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Manama, Bahrain —February 18, 2011** Several thousand Shi'ites turn out to bury three of those killed in police raids.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sitra, Bahrain — February 18, 2011** Shi'ites mourn Ali Ahmed al Muameen and others killed in police raids.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Manama, Bahrain — February 19, 2011** Anti-government protesters flee tear gas fired by security forces.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Manama, Bahrain — February 19, 2011** Upon regaining Pearl Square after a military crackdown, some of the protesters climbed the Square's monument with Bahraini flags.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Manama, Bahrain — February 20, 2011** Days after protesters were cleared from Pearl Square by Bahraini security officers, demonstrators continued to gather.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Malkiya, Bahrain — February 22, 2011** A woman takes part in the funeral procession for anti-government protester Abdul Ridha Mohammed, who had been shot in the head when Bahraini security forces attacked anti-government demonstrators in Pearl Roundabout the previous week.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Benghazi, Libya — February, 24, 2011** With much of eastern Libya under opposition control, demonstrators in Benghazi painted their faces the color of the Libyan flag for a rally in support of their comrades in in the government-controlled capital, Tripoli.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Benghazi, Libya — February 24, 2011** Demonstrators in Benghazi held a rally in support of their comrades in Tripoli.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Benghazi, Libya — February 24, 2011** Relatives of slain political prisoners and others hold a protest against the government.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Benghazi, Libya — February 24, 2011** Demonstrators demand the removal of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Benghazi, Libya — February 25, 2011** Demonstrators hold a rally in the main square of Libya's second-largest city, in support of their comrades in Tripoli.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Benghazi, Libya — February 26, 2011** Young men stand on the roof of the burnt-out remains of a building on the Al-Katiba military base after opposition forces gained control of the base.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Ras Lanuf, Libya — March 8, 2011** Libyan rebels raise their flag at a checkpoint that they had seized a few days earlier.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sitra, Bahrain — March 18, 2011** Thousands of Bahrainis gather for the funeral of Ahmed Farhan, a 29-year-old demonstrator slain a few days earlier, hours after the King declared martial law in response to a month of escalating protests.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sitra, Bahrain — March 18, 2011** Bahrainis gather for the funeral of another demonstrator.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Ras Lanuf, Libya — March 27, 2011** Rebels scribble over Gaddafi loyalists' graffiti (in green) near a hospital.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 13, 2011** Supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh attend a rally in Sana'a.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 14, 2011** Anti-government protesters camp outside the university. As the movement enters its fourth month, the protest has swollen to a veritable tent city that stretches nearly two miles, blocking off traffic in a large portion of the capital.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 16 2011** Protester Nabel Ali Mohamed, 28, receives treatment at a makeshift field hospital. During his detention, security forces tortured Mohamid by putting their cigarettes out on his bare skin.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 16, 2011** A blind protester attends a demonstration at the renamed Change Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 17, 2011** Women visit a shrine to fallen protesters in the tent city outside of the university.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 17 2011** Saleh loyalists gather in a tent-filled car-park next to a sports stadium on the outskirts of the capital.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 18, 2011** Anti-Saleh protesters march at night with candles and portraits of fallen protesters.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 18, 2011** A demonstration takes place in Change Square near the university.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — May 20, 2011** Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a rally to demand Saleh's ouster.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Tripoli, Libya — August 24, 2011** Rebels and citizens celebrate in Tripoli's renamed Martyrs' Square following the fall of Gaddafi's regime.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Tripoli, Libya — August 25, 2011** A rebel fighter leaps from a statue within Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Tripoli, Libya — August 25, 2011** Libyan rebels burn a photograph of Gaddafi.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Tripoli, Libya — August 25, 2011** A rebel fighter waves the new Libyan flag after intense battles in the Abu Slim neighborhood.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Tripoli, Libya — August 29, 2011** Libyans celebrate at the Bab Al-Aziziya compound.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sana'a, Yemen — September 30, 2011** Demonstrators gather around the bodies of protesters recently killed during clashes with security forces at a funeral in Change Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sanaa, Yemen — October 1, 2011** Protestors gather in Change Square near a makeshift prayer wall adorned with portraits of those killed in clashes with security forces.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sanaa, Yemen — October 1, 2011** Protesters pray together in Change Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Moscow, Russia — November 4, 2011** Members of Russian Empire take part in a march to mark National Unity Day, a month before Russia's parliamentary elections. Normally a day to promote a nationalist agenda, demonstrators instead denounced Vladimir Putin and demanded a change in the Kremlin's leadership.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Moscow, Russia — November 4, 2011** Ten thousand people march to demand a change in leadership at the Kremlin, a month before parliamentary elections.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Athens, Greece — November 17, 2011** Marking the 38th anniversary of the Polytechnic school uprising in Athens, an estimated 50,000 people turned out to protest government austerity measures.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Athens, Greece — November 17, 2011** A paramedic with a gas mask walks through tear gas near the US embassy during a protest march against government austerity measures.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — November 23, 2011** Protesters, anxious about the ruling military council's transition of power to democratic rule, clash with riot police near Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — November 23, 2011** Protesters chant anti-military council slogans at a barricade during a temporary cease-fire with Egyptian security forces.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — November 25, 2011** Banners and flags blanket Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Cairo, Egypt — November 25, 2011** Photographs of politicians are plastered on the sole of a shoe, a sign of disrespect, during continued protests in Tahrir Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia — December 1, 2011** Banners hang near the entrance to the governor's office where Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolated almost a year earlier. Bouazizi's death triggered anti-government protests in Tunisia and the overthrow of its president, and helped to catalyze the Arab Spring.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia — December 1, 2011** Young boys play on a statue near the site where Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Moscow, Russia — December 6, 2011** Members of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Steel participate in a rally in downtown Moscow.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

**Moscow, Russia — December 6, 2011** Police detain a demonstrator during protests against alleged vote rigging in Russia's parliamentary elections in Triumphal Square.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

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