Private Story
2021 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award
Over the past two decades, hundreds of visual stories have come out of Afghanistan, but largely, they have reinforced the same narrative of war, extremism, despair and women in blue burqas. I came to Afghanistan and chose to stay to confront some of these stereotypical narratives. I quickly learned that my Iranian heritage and language skills allow me to blend in and give me the access that most foreign journalists do not have.
While I have covered the front line and the dramatic events of war on assignments, I stay behind when I can, to capture a different and alternative narrative of war. The consequence of a single narrative is that it robs people of dignity. It smears our recognition of equal humanity and it emphasizes on how we are different rather than how we are similar.
Since May 1, when the United States formally began its withdrawal, the Taliban have captured territory in practically every part of the country. It is evident to everyone that Afghanistan is sinking further into chaos and bloodshed and is perhaps steps away from another civil war.
My portfolio this year focuses on Afghan women, the same women who were put in the center of war efforts shortly after Americans invaded Afghanistan and are now abandoned and left behind. Stories of women that found murdering their husbands as their only way out of domestic and now have found peace in a prison. Stories of girls fleeing Taliban for an education and mothers mourning for teenage daughters who were brutally killed as they left their school. Stories that have proved to successfully shift narratives.
Stories matter. Stories have been used to deprive and to disparage, but stories are also used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity. This belief forms the core of my photography and stories I aim to tell. I aspire to contradict the political stand of our current governments and bridge the gaps by creating empathy and exchanging compassion. I also strongly believe in the power of education, in changing minds and opening them, even in small and subtle ways.
Courage comes in many shape and form. For me, courage is to stand out and swim against the tide.
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