Salva Kiir, famous SPLA rebel leader turned politician, shoots me a fairly intimidating look at his campaign commencement.

On 24 February, Salva Kiir, the Vice President of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan, launched his reelection campaign in Juba. Kiir sits and the nexus of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and its political wing, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. The former waged a 23-year guerrilla war against the northern Sudanese government in Khartoum. More than 2 million people perished in the conflict.

Nationwide elections are scheduled for April 2010 and will be first of their kind in Sudan since 1986.While the elections process has people excited, some fear that political competition could result in violence between factions. Southern Sudan is highly divided along tribal lines that tensions pervades the political sphere. When an opposition activist torn a photograph of Kiir, he was violently assaulted by an angry mob.

Thousands attended the event and excitement pervaded the air. Given the tense political climate in southern Sudan, security was extremely tight.

Mary Boyoi worries that a victory in Sudan’s upcoming parliamentary elections would require her to start wearing more professional attire. “It’s too hot for those clothes,” she quips. This widely renowned professional musician & activist never dreamed of working in politics. “I always expressed my political feelings with my music,” she explains outside a restaurant in Juba, southern Sudan’s bustling capitol. Much of her music focuses on political issues, including her 2007-debut album, Referendum, a reference to southern Sudan’s upcoming independence referendum scheduled for 2011.

Here, she poses for campaign photos in a Juba photo studio.

For the past eighteen months, I’ve worked with the Danish Demining Group to document and promote their global mine action and community safety programs. Many of the images I’ve shared over the last few weeks were made on assignment with DDG here in Sudan. I’ve been extremely pleased and honored to cover and learn about the mine action community during this time. Their work is vital and has an immediate impact on war-affected communities.

Pasted below is the final soundslide I constructed for DDG. It’s in black and white, which is unusual for me, but I feel that it suits the subject matter well.

A Sudanese man smokes shisha outside Mundri, a former frontline area in Western Equitoria.