[Leica] LUG book club is in session (Afghanistan)

[pmjensen <pmjensen@concentric.net>]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before so I guess I'll just have 
to tackle it.

After about a month with the book AFGHANISTAN by Magnum member Chris 
Steele-Perkins, I'm prepared to write a few words of recommendation about 
it. [Warning: it was not photographed with Leicas and therefore has 
serious content-obscuring optical deficiencies in the OOF areas. Insert 
laugh track here, please.]

Photographed in the mid- to late 1990s and recently published, it's a 
black + white, large format, beautifully printed book of a timely 
subject. There are 76 images and, perhaps unfortunately now, only minimal 
text; you'll have to look elsewhere for either a history or a detailed 
analysis of contemporary Afghanistan.

Some of the pics are truly extraordinary and some quietly advance the 
story. The tone is emotionally even - somber but not heavy - despite 
depicting a materially shattered country. Just absolutely, totally 
shattered. There's plenty of evidence of war - how could it be otherwise 
in Afghanistan in the 90s - but not exclusively. The soldiers are, in a 
sense, indistinguishable from other men at work. The street photographer 
has his view camera, the barber his razor, and the Taliban their rocket 
grenades.

The overall picture is of a broken country and to some small extent the 
image is biased; there are no pictures of the (relative) modernity (or at 
least recent construction) of Kabul or elsewhere. Steele-Perkins's 
interest is people and the banal but strangely fascinating moments of 
daily life.

There are quirky moments: a thrown melon in mid-flight, an very unhappy 
looking bride, three tightly composed faces in different planes looking 
in three directions. And there are some ordinary moments of transcendent 
beauty: village elders gathering in a field at dusk, the weekly bath at 
the orphanage, milking the flock, hay carried on men's backs, a portrait 
of armed Taliban fighters, a young soldier sitting on a bridge at dusk, 
and many more - you'll have your own favorites.

Steele-Perkins carries a very lively camera, pushing it inside the scene, 
almost inside the moment. Wide angle, shmide angle, you just feel like 
you're there. You stumble over loose gravel, you shy away from a 
wild-looking horse, you flinch from a rifle-toting soldier waving in your 
face. It's a very earthy style, neither intellectual nor emotional.

I have contacts in the Afghan refugee community and I've tried to get 
some feedback about these pictures. I've incorporated here some of what 
I've learned but basically the response has been: so what are you showing 
me, I already know what Afghanistan looks like. After giving their 
responses some thought, I now take them to mean that Steele-Perkins's 
view is faithful, even if it's largely subjective.

Lastly, I'd like to make a gentle appeal. Leica gear, even on the used 
market, is pretty darned expensive. But it's worth it, so we pay it. A 
few weeks (or less) supply of Tri-X can set you back a hundred dollars, 
never mind the processing. You see where I'm going with this. The 
exceptionally talented and hard working guys and gals who make the 
photographs that educate us and inspire us to get outside with our Leicas 
aren't exactly getting rich off their efforts. If you like a book enough 
to thumb through it every time you go down to Borders, maybe you like it 
enough to buy it and, in some small way, help sustain the freelance 
photojournalism community. AFGHANISTAN's about 50 bucks at Amazon.com, 
which equates to about 13 rolls of Tri-X. Not a bad deal, I think. 

Okay, the usual disclaimers: No political commentary is intended here. I 
have no connection to Steele-Perkins. My post is semi-incoherent only 
because I'm an ignorant fool (HS diploma on a technicality) who's too 
lazy to make the effort to think and write more clearly. 

- ---Peter





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