Guinea-Bissau: past, present and future – in pictures

A man sleeps on the floor of a bar in a colonial-era building on the island of Bolama, Guinea-Bissau. Established in 1890, Bolama was the first Portuguese colonial capital of Guinea-Bissau. In 1941, the Portuguese moved to the present capital, Bissau Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

A farmer carrying wheat on his head poses as he walks home after a day's work in Guiledge. Guiledge was a stronghold of the Portuguese army and its fall to anti-colonial rebels in early 1973 marked the final stages of Portuguese rule Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

A girl leaves a colonial-era building on the island of Bolama Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

A man works putting together Guinea-Bissau's state newspaper at a printing press in the capital Bissau Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

Men working at Guinea-Bissau's main printing press, INACEP, in the capital Bissau. During colonialism, the printers produced Portuguese colonial newsletters. After independence, they printed the state newspaper and official bulletins Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

Sheep walk by buckets of water in front of a recently repainted colonial-era school building on the island of Bolama Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

Former Guinea-Bissau independence fighter Jose Sambe, 62, displays an old photograph of himself in military uniform at his house in the capital Bissau Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

Former independence fighter Samba Diakite, 69, shows his prosthetic leg in his bedroom in Gabu. In 1969, Diakite lost his leg in a mine blast set by the Portuguese army. Today there are still live mines in Guinea-Bissau's countryside, which were planted by the Portuguese during the independence war Photograph: JOE PENNEY/REUTERS

A man leaves the abandoned colonial governor's mansion on the island of Bolama Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

A security guard relaxes in front of colonial-era buildings in Bissau Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

A newscaster reads the news during a broadcast of Guinea-Bissau's national television in the capital Bissau Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

People leave the colonial-era dock on the island of Bolama by pirogue (small, flat-bottomed boat) Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

Student Samba shows a Nike logo shaved into his hair Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

Student Rachid Malam peers off the edge of a colonial-era dock on the island of Bolama Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters