New Afghanistan Project: 'A Tree Falls'

[Turtle]

"February 2012 saw Kabul’s neighbourhoods brought to a standstill by heavy snow. With the landscape transformed, scenes played out in isolation, barely connected to each and far removed from the oppressive larger reality that dominates life in the capital. Once the snow had melted and the streets cleared, all that occurred, and the relief that came with it, was erased."

The aim was very simple: to photograph moments in time which do not reach the world's media and which you would be forgiven for thinking don't happen at all.

http://www.thomasstanworth.com/album...=UA-10634171-1

[Gabriel M.A.]

I like the series as a whole, a lot!

[kanzlr]

an extraordinarily interesting series.

pinhole?

[Turtle]

Thanks for the kind words.

I never thought I would ever shoot one seriously: a Holga

.... but then you suddenly find it is what you need for the project in mind. I bought one a decade ago in New York and aside from a test roll, it sat on a shelf until this project.

Originally Posted by kanzlr

an extraordinarily interesting series.

pinhole?

[OurManInTangier]

Some outstanding individual images and a hugely interesting project as a whole. I'd be interested to know how, why, what and when in regards to what got you started on this project and some of the other work you do.

[robklurfield]

every image is gorgeous by itself and the impact of seeing them one after another just heightens the experience. lovely work.

[taskoni]

Very neat! Great job! Congrats!

Regards,

Boris

[boomguy57]

Very cool series!

[semordnilap]

Beautiful... thank you.

[defconfunk]

Very cool. Most the shots look like they could have been from a small Canadian town (I'm sure other people in other Northern climes can relate). It is always pleasantly shocking to see something we think of as "far away" and "different" look so much like home. It reminds us that our similarities are far greater than our differences. Thank you fo that.

[dreilly]

Afghanistan is a place I've wanted to experience for many years. This is a beautiful set of photos.

Love the compositions and the eye for details.

Love the bicycle, snowman, the one you called "echo", lone thistle. And I love your description of the project. Very lyrical, matches the images.

As a set I sorta feel it's a little unbalanced towards the trees...I would have liked to see what the snow did to abstract the architecture and a few more people up close...but that is said not knowing anything about your shooting conditions or what was possible.

Thanks so much for sharing these moments with us!

[Turtle]

@ Matt - thank you. that's very much what I hoped people would feel.

@ Doug - You are quite right, there is an emphasis on trees and this was deliberate, although it might not work for everyone. I felt the trees were not only silent witnesses of events, but also recognisable objects of beauty. I picked them out to assist in the depiction of commonality between this series and life in the snowy environments we are more familiar with. I also felt the organic quality was important. Your point is a fair one and I will have one final winter here in 2012/13 and I am sure I will shoot again, although I have not though about what I will do. As always, time is a factor and being able to get out an about when the conditions are right. I largely avoided close ups of people because I wanted to create and air of intimacy between the subjects and the environment rather than the viewer if you follow. I am shooting a particularly challenging project at the moment that will provide more direct and intimate shots of the Afghan people, but it is some way off completion.

[Turtle]

Hi Chris,

It’s a good question and one that’s not easy to answer concisely, but I will try.

Having previously concentrated on fine art and landscape work, I found myself living and working in Afghanistan some years ago. Naturally, with time I developed my own very personal reactions to ‘people, place, time’ and this took me towards a documentary approach, although I do not regard my work as fully adherent to that genre. It seems an absurd claim to make, but I am not really aiming to cover particular stories. I might just about consider myself as covering ‘issues’ in some cases. Most of all, I am interested in ideas, often simple ones, that relate to what I am encountering on the ground and questions I am grappling with in my head. There is a process of interaction and realisation and my photographs are a by-product of, and sometimes the catalyst for, that process. It is very personal and this perhaps makes my work less accesible than some documentary photographers, but as long as some viewers see exactly what the work is about then I am happy.

This project came about because of the heavy snow that descended upon Kabul (and much of the country) over a week or two. I saw, and felt, the energy within the city change. Despite the very real trauma caused by harsh weather around the country, Kabul city residents seemed energised. The snow offered an opportunity for frivolity and play that was palpable and the closed in weather, dark skies and poor visibility somehow allowed people to hide away from the wider reality of their situation. I got out onto the streets and photographed it, predominantly in the quieter suburbs where there were more subtle relationships between the people, environment, nature and elements. I was looking to photograph that peace, escapism, and at times simple beauty, which is the antithesis of Kabul for much of the rest of the time.

I also felt that many of the scenes depicted events, moments or actions that most of us can relate to, so acting as a catalyst for empathy at a very basic human level divorced from personal politics. Photographing simple scenes of beauty was key to this project, because I wanted to show them as fundamental to the human experience, no matter who or where you are. A number of the tree photographs were taken on the block where I live and all of the photos were taken with a mile or two. Those small details often exist 'under the radar for most of us most of the time due to our busy lives. This project therefore afforded an opportunity to connect with those things in the most unlikely of places.

[emraphoto]

outstanding my friend. i ache for visions of these worlds, names we hear a hundred times a month, that challenge some of the visual saturation we meet daily.

you have done your idea well. a beautiful escape

[emraphoto]

would love to see it in person

[Jockos]

I have a negative comment: please don't make your site in flash.

The pictures are lovely tough, and the thought behind even more so.