KAFEEL, KHOST PROVINCE BY ORIANE ZERAH. “In Afghanistan, one of the traditional hats is called Pakol, and in Khost, the tradition is that men wear their pakol decorated with flowers. In the village of Qaley Fakiram, located in the district of Tani, lives a family made up of 4 brothers and many cousins. In this family we nurture a particular passion for flowers, and all the male members wear a pakol decorated with fresh flowers. They were originally six brothers, but two left the country. There are therefore four left, plus a cousin considered as a brother, to continue the tradition.” – Oriane Zerah
In a village in Khost Province, Afghanistan, you’ll find a community garden, run by a group of brothers and their cousin. There’s a board there that reads, “You can take a flower, but you have to share a cup of tea.” In the district of Tani, where the brothers live, it’s tradition for men to tuck flowers into their Pakol hats. Last September, and then again in the spring, the photojournalist Oriane Zerah spent the day with the brothers. She photographed the brothers in their hats, and she stayed for a meal.
Now, one of her portraits from the pink and turquoise house belonging to Batshazullah, the cousin of the brothers, in Khost Province is part of a photography print and NFT sale, organized by ISHKAR. All of the proceeds will go to EMERGENCY, an organization providing free and high-quality healthcare to survivors of war, poverty, and landmines, and their hospitals in Afghanistan. Every minute, a patient receives care through EMERGENCY.
Last year, ISHKAR raised $123,000 for the cause. This year, Zerah is one of nineteen leading photographers who have donated their work. The 2022 print sale comes in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake; the deadliest in twenty years, the earthquake killed at least 1,150 people and wounded at least 1,500. Medical professionals were among the victims. The sale is open through the end of the month, offering one-time prices for an extraordinary collection of images (prints starting at £85).
Not all the photographs included in the sale were made in Afghanistan, but many were. Some paint a nuanced portrait of the country’s (very) recent history. Andrew Quilty, while documenting America’s final days in Afghanistan, bears witness as evacuees try to enter Hamid Karzai International Airport amid the Taliban’s taking of Kabul one year ago. Elise Blanchard covers demonstrations in Kabul, as women and girls advocate for the reopening of a girl’s secondary school, this spring.
At the same time, the collection focuses on the timeless rhythms of ordinary, everyday life, which somehow persists and triumphs amid ever-changing circumstances. In 2002, Steve McCurry photographed a horse at the Band-i-Amir lakes, an azure oasis set between idyllic cliffsides. A decade later, Matthieu Paley traveled to Chaqmaqtin lake in winter. There, he met members of the Kyrgz nomadic community, taking in the view of their yaks grazing against the towering Pamir mountains.
And beyond the beauty of the country, its landscape, and its caretakers, there are also moments of resilience, joy, and friendship waiting to be discovered within some of these pictures. In one, Farshad Usyan takes us to the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, where he was born and raised. There, he watched as children played on an ice cream cart, cast in silhouette by the setting sun.
“They were child laborers, like many more children on the streets hustling as breadwinners of their families,” he remembers. “I had gone for a picnic with friends to the Shadyan mountains. I realized it would be sunset soon, and I would have a two-minute window of sunlight. I found a spot where I could see the street clearly as foreground, and then I waited there ’til the sun [crossed the horizon] when I saw the ice-cream sellers coming down the hill.
“I noticed their happiness after a long day of hard work. The next day, they would have another tough, dark day. They were child laborers, but they had a future ahead of them, and they had a feeling of freedom [in that moment]. I had in my mind that this light was an exemplary definition of [the idea that] ‘there will be light beyond darkness.'” The title of that photograph: Splendid Sunset.
SPLENDID SUNSET BY FARSHAD USYAN. “An Afghan boy pushes a friend on an ice-cream cart, as the sun sets on the outskirts of Mazar-i- Sharif.” – Farshad UsyanUNTITLED BY ANDREW QUILTY. “Afghan evacuees wait beside mini-buses on the tarmac of the military side of Hamid Karzai International Airport as others board planes after the convoy of buses they were on transported a total of 109 Afghans from the Kabul Serena Hotel in the early hours of the morning. As the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15, the U.S. and other international militaries began a massive evacuation operation that would have to be completed by August 31, the date by which the U.S. had previously agreed to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by. Tens of thousands have been evacuated since, as Afghans with valid travel documents, foreign passport holders and many who have no official reason to be granted access to the airport and evacuation flights but who want to try their luck nonetheless, desperate to leave since the Taliban came to power, mass at the various entrances around the perimeter of the airport trying to enter.” – Andrew QuiltyDEMONSTRATE BY ELISE BLANCHARD. “Afghan women demonstrated in the streets of Kabul asking for the re-opening of public secondary schools for girls, in Kabul on 3.26.22” – Elise BlanchardCHAQMAQTIN BY MATTHIEU PALEY. “Near the frozen Chaqmaqtin lake, a herd of yak grazes below the Pamir mountains. Incredibly adaptable animals, they push snow with their hooves to feed on the wintery brown grass. During my fourth expedition to Afghanistan’s Pamir mountains, on assignment photographing the isolated nomadic Kyrgz community, for a National Geographic magazine feature story titled “Stranded on the Roof of the World” (February 2013). Shot in winter 2012. ” – Matthieu PaleyHORSE AND TWO TOWERS BY STEVE MCCURRY. “I can think of few greater humanitarian organizations than the Emergency hospitals in Afghanistan which have operated continuously throughout the turbulence of the past year. When many fled the country, Emergency doubled down on their commitment to care for Afghans as they have since 1999. ” – Steve McCurryKABUL TWINS BY LYNZY BILLING. “A photograph of twins taken in central Kabul. 2020.” – Lynzy BillingSHARSHAM BY SOLMAZ DARYANI. “Beigom helps her daughter-in-law picking ‘Sharsham’ vegetables from their potato fields in Bamiyan valley. she says, “These vegetables help to consume less flour and bread. Her family, including three of her sons, are affected by last year’s drought. Last year, one of his sons rented the potato field, but due to the drought, he lost last season’s harvest and couldn’t afford to buy seeds or pay the rent for the new planting season. This year, he had to rent the land with the other two brothers. Bamiyan valley. Afghanistan.2019” – Solmaz DaryaniAFGHAN RAINBOW BY RODRIGO ABD. “An Afghan girl walks past destroyed buildings occupied by refugees after a heavy rain in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 20, 2006. Spring is the most rainy season in Afghanistan.” – Rodrigo AbdA BAKERY BY ZAHRA KHODADADI. “A bakery, Kabul, Afghanistan, 2018” – Zahra KhodadadiKYRGYZ YAK BY LEVISON WOOD. “In the remote Wakhan corridor of northeastern Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz people live a semi-nomadic pastoralist existence herding yaks and goats in the isolated Pamir mountains. I have spent time embedded with the Kyrgyz people several times photographing their culture.” – Levison WoodA VILLAGE BY LORENZO TUGNOLI. “Sorbi, Village of Toorkhane, Afghanistan, August 2010: A man laughs with his friends in the village of Toorkhane, after he has been jokingly accused of being a Taliban. This photo is part of a long-term project called ‘A Village’ that looked at the multiple layers of rural life in Afghanistan in the wake of 2014 political transition.” – Lorenzo TugnoliKABUL BY MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER BROWN. “Hazara brickmakers work atop a kiln in Kabul.” – Michael Christopher BrownEHSANULLAH, KANDAHAR PROVINCE BY ORIANE ZERAH. “Ehsanullah is 21 years old. He lives in Arghandab in Kandahar province. He created a garden with his own hands at his workplace. If cleaning cars is his job, and he has to do it, his passion is growing flowers.” – Oriane Zerah
