iPhone en Afghanistan, le meilleur APN est celui…

Un post original aujourd’hui, pour nous rappeler qu’il vaut mieux photographier des choses intéressantes avec un iPhone (ou n’importe quoi d’autre), que de photographier des photos de choses sans intérêt, avec un excellent appareil ;-) 

J’ai découvert ces images touchantes sur l’écran de l’iPhone de leur auteur, Arezo Malakooti une jeune Australienne d’origine Iranienne qui vit et travail une grande partie de l’année en Afghanistan (ici à droite, face au Lac Band-e-Amir dans la province de Bamyan). Je lui ai demandé s’il ‘était dangereux de faire des études ethnographiques en Afghanistan en ce moment (l’actu tragique de ce mardi tendrait à confirmer que le pays est embarqué dans une spirale infernale). Elle m’a répondu que ce n’était “pas si dangereux qu’on pouvait le croire”…

Elle a ajouté : “Si tu rêve de découvrir l’Afghanistan, c’est peut-être le bon moment d’y aller. Car dans quelques années ça pourrait être plus compliqué. Et moi qui y vit, je trouve dommage que l’on ne montre jamais ce qu’il y a de magnifique dans ce pays. Les seules images qui en sortent, ne parlent que de guerre et jamais du reste”…

On pourra tirer une dernière conclusion de ces belles images (conclusion déjà bien connue de nos lecteurs) : “le meilleur APN, est celui que l’on a toujours dans sa poche” ! Sans obligatoirement aller jusqu’en Afghanistan, j’ai toujours pensé qu’un billet d’avion à 800 € donne toujours de meilleures photo qu’un objectif à 800 € ! Et au delà des photo, on aura surtout vécu quelque chose d’inoubliable… Certes, si Arezo avait possédé un petit Canon S100, cela aurait été encore mieux qu’un iphone 4, notamment à contre jour (d’ailleurs, sur mes conseils elle va peut-être s’en offrir un)… Mais au moins avait-elle un iPhone en poche et surtout l’oeil ouvert et le bon… Un oeil instinctif, jugez plutôt. Légendes rédigée à notre demande par Arezo, car une photo n’a de valeur qu’à la condition qu’elle comporte une légende. Les images sont absolument brutes sortie de l’iPhone : 

Siblings watch television together on a Friday afternoon in their home in Jibrail, Herat. They like to watch American action films. They don’t understand what’s being said, but they are entertained by the fast-moving images. I spent three weeks living in this community to conduct an ethnography.

A family of just women – perhaps the greatest curse in Afghanistan. This woman moved her five daughters back to Afghanistan after having spent decades in Iran, after her husband passed away there. It was the first time that the girls had seen Afghanistan and the adjustment process was challenging.

This little old lady had spent the bulk of her life as a migrant living in the Iranian city of Mashad. My Father was originally from Mashad, but like her, I too spent my life as a migrant (or the child of migrants) in Australia and have never seen my ancestral homeland. When she heard my story, she looked at me with her serious eyes and said “it was your destiny to come here and meet us.”

Kabul from up high. The landscapes of Afghanistan tend to speak to my soul, and I always imagine that it’s a tangible manifestation of my spiritual link to my Iranian ancestors who lived the days of their lives in landscapes such as this.

Dragon valley in Bamyan province – located on the road between Bamyan city and Band-e-Amir. Local legend has it that Imam Ali slayed an unfriendly dragon in this spot. Bamyan province is comprised of mainly ethnic Hazara’s who are traditionally Shiite Muslims, hence the references to Imam Ali.

Completing a 20km hike through the seven lakes of Band-e-Amir, Bamyan province. The lake seven has dried up now.

A 20km hike through the seven lakes of Band-e-Amir – stopping for lunch.

The lakes of Band-e-Amir – my friend and I sat at the edge of the cliff to give a sense of the magnitude and grandeur of this place.

The lakes of Band-e-Amir 

The lakes of Band-e-Amir

The Buddha’s of Bamyan.

The Buddha’s of Bamyan up-close.

Villagers in Yakawlang district of Bamyan province.

Interviews with shopkeepers in Bamyan province, as part of a study on the nutrition of infants and young children.

Bamyan province. Always connected by mobile phone, even in the mountains.

Flying carpet? A scene I stumbled upon in an abandoned house in Istalif during a picnic with friends.

The streets of Kabul during Ashura.

The (cutest) ice-cream seller of Kabul.

Commemorations on the Day of Ashura in Jibrail, Heart, December 2011.

As above

Conducting interviews with village elders in Yakawlang district of Bamyan province.

Lunch in a local ‘chai-khana’

Interviews with internal migrants in the city of Jibrail in Herat. This man had migrated from the central highlands of Afghanistan some years before. He was sharing his opinions on cultural change and acculturation. 

Sorting through onions on a Friday at one of Kabul’s biggest bazaars.