The Photographs

The photography in this project was all shot on a cherrywood and brass field camera that uses 'plates' of film 5 inches by 4 inches. This is what gives the photography its great detail and smooth tonalities. It is a cumbersome camera to use; always needing a tripod and a black cloth over my head so that I can focus on the glass screen. The camera attracted a certain amount of derision from the many photojournalists in Kabul who thought it resembled a circus act. However I have often found that the best defence in difficult situations is look like a harmless prick. The camera looks like an antique and this makes people with whom I canít communicate appreciate quickly that I am probably not the CIA or some other threat, nor am I probably worth robbing or kidnapping.The camera also accords with the ordinary Afghan's idea of what a camera should be, since it resembles the cameras of the itinerant street portrait photographers that one sees in every town.