The \"Arab Spring\" is among the most thoroughly photographed\nevents in recent history. People in the streets using their mobile\nphones to register incidents they were eyewitness to, local journalists\nas well as camera crews and freelance photographers dispatched by\ninternational media recording the developments from day to day. Our\nperception of the \"Arab Spring\" is marked by dramatic images of key\nmoments during the uprisings. Demonstrators taking over Tahrir\nSquare in Cairo and engaging in violent clashes with the security\nforces and supporters of President Mubarak; the storming of Colonel\nGaddafi's compound in Tripoli, Libya, by rebels and the capture of the\nleader himself weeks later. Major changes in the power relations have\ntaken place since then: in Egypt and Tunisia, the resignation of the\ncountry's president, and in Libya, the fall of the leader and the first\nfree elections in 60 years. In other countries, protests have not led to\na revolution, but they are facing challenges from local issues and from\nthe effects of the global economic crisis. How well do we know the\nregion beyond the headlines though? What has been the impact of the\nevents on people's everyday lives? Many of the issues that fuelled the\nuprisings remain unresolved: a high level of youth unemployment, the\nrising cost of living, women's rights etc. What is really going on in the\nhomes and in the streets of the cities in the region? What do people\nworry or dream about? Stories of Change challenges our perceptions\nof the region and brings to the foreground a local perspective in\nreporting. Through stories produced exclusively for this book, and\nshown here for the first time, we are offered an insider view into the\nlives of people in a region that rarely has left news headlines, but that\nonly few of us know beyond the one-dimensional headline news\nimages flashed on our screens.\nStories of Change celebrates authenticity in visual storytelling,\nshowing us North Africa through the eyes of a group of\nphotojournalists from the region. They are all top alumni of a series\nof workshops conducted in 2012 and 2013 by World Press Photo for\nphotographers from five participating countries: Morocco, Algeria,\nTunisia, Libya and Egypt.\n\nStories of Change contains a visual\nchronology of the most memorable\nmoments of the Arab Spring, compiled\nfrom the visual reporting in the\ninternational media of the unfolding\nevents at the time. The main focus lies\nin the visual storytelling by the young\ntalent in photographic reporting,\nbringing into perspective and adding\ndepth and nuance to the reporting\nabout North Africa. The book contains\nover 200 images on 312 pages, and is\ncomplemented by articles by prominent\nwriters in the region about the North\nAfrican societies and cultures, and with\na foreword by Arabist and former\ndiplomat Petra Stienen discussing\nthe mythology of the Arab Spring and\nhow accurate our perceptions about the\nregion are or aren't. Accompanying\nStories of Change, a collection of\nmultimedia stories will be launched\nonline.