In a posh seaside location, stands the police station in the Tunis suburb of La Goulette. Now its walls stand blackened by smoke and fire, the interior full of police officer's notebooks, files and identity card applications lay in ruins from the popular uprising in Tunisia. But from these ashes, rise beautiful images of average Tunisians, young and old...

...replacing the former scene of governmental repression through a photography project called "Inside Out."

Artocracy in Tunisia, a collective of Tunisian artists and photographers are working towards giving the people back their voices through creativity by reclaiming such emotionally charged civic spaces for the public. The concept revolves around showing monumental portraits of ordinary Tunisians in a public space, where for years only government propaganda portraits of ex-president Ben Ali and his predecessor, Habib Bourguiba, had hung.

Read more of the story at the Los Angeles Times.

(Images: Jonny Wallstrom/Zero Silence via LA Times)