Shoot 4 Change » freedom of expression

August 15th was a day no Afghan can forget

Antonio Amendola — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 13:48:49 +0000

Note of the Editor:

I have discussed at length with Morteza, the author of this article, and we decided not to publish the images of the persons mentioned here in order not to expose their (and their families) safety in these dangerous times in Afghanistan. Morteza showed me a large amount of beautiful photos but publishing them would make the authors known and, hence, target of the taliban fanatism against creative visual communication and expression.

Unfortunately, in Afghanistan all forms of art are currently prohibited. Musicians, artists and photographers have destroyed everything they owned and live in hiding or have already left the country and live in an unstable condition in neighbouring countries.

For example, of those mentioned in this article, Reza is in Iran and Morteza tries to help him organise an exhibition in Tehran and at the same time teaches photography to young talents in different cities of the country.

Feel free to reach out to me or Morteza if you want to learn more about these incredibly courageous photographers in Afghanistan.

And this is a message to them: You are not alone, guys. Keep telling your stories and we'll share them here. Keep expressing yourselves through Photography. You are not alone.

Let us know how we can help. We’ll do our part.

Antonio Amendola/S4C

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A story by Morteza Khaleghi

August 15th was a day no Afghan can forget. We had known for days that something big and bad was happening in the country, a change that was frightening us, the return to power of the Taliban seemed imminent. That day what felt like a distant memory became reality again. The regime returned to Kabul.

I have been feeling very nervous and restless for the past months. When the city fell, I tried to call my relatives and friends in Kabul, no one could believe it! Everyone was speechless. The terrorists conquered the city and were driving through the streets of the capital with their pickups.

I experienced a feeling of existential helplessness and uselessness. I kept thinking about all the people that had their life in danger and that were looking for help. I was trying to find a way to support people I knew who were risking their lives. My artist friend Nazir, who had called me from Herat a few days before the city fell into the hands of the Taliban, had told me that his city was going to fall, artists like him, who are committed to educating young artists, particularly women, would be persecuted. He asked me for help and moved to Kabul with a group of his students to look for a solution to get out of the country: that same day a bomb exploded in the airport of the capital, killing more than 100 people.

He had to close his art gallery and hid all the works because the Taliban destroy any form of art, from paintings and miniatures to musical instruments. They are the greatest enemies of art and culture because they know the role they play in people's education.

I felt responsible to my artist friends who have been on the front of the war against ignorance for years, so with the collaboration of the Afghan community in Rome we organized an artistic event. We decided to organize “Afghan Rewind” to create a sense of community for the diaspora in Rome and, at the same time, raise awareness of the Italian public opinion. I invited Shahab Eslami, a kabul-based artist, and founder of an art collective “Induction”.

I’ve been keeping up with their work for a few years,because the way they live the reality of Afghanistan was a source of inspiration for me, and I found very unique the way they express and present themselves in the artistic sphere of the country.

They use photography as a way to express their inner self and to explore the context in which they exist, on the other hand most of Afghanistan's artistic community describe the afghan society in the way the external world wants them to.

For “Induction”, cameras are not only an instrument to describe the tragic reality, but a device that gives them the possibility to be free to imagine, experiment, play around, explore their environment.

The group is composed of young members that had put a lot of fate in the future of the artistic scene of Afghanistan. They dreamt of a richer and more dynamic cultural life in their country and worked restlessly toward this goal. somehow they revolutionised afghan photography, by taking some distance by big NGOs and international institutions that lure them into producing a kind of work that was useful for their philanthropic and political agenda: they had enough of the same old monothematic narrative of poor and a war devastated country and they wanted to talk about themselves and more personal thematics like philosophy and psychology through e new representation of Kabul.

They soon realized that the society was not ready to recognise their talent and at the same time the Taliban took power. The collective fell apart, some members managed to save their lives and fled the country only to find themselves surviving in difficulty in the neighboring countries, while others are still stuck there.

The other photography group I contacted was “Everyday Golshahr”. The collective was born in Golshahr, a marginalised neighborhood in the periphery of Mashhad, the second biggest city in Iran, very close to the Afghan borders. 40 years ago this neighborhood was repopulated by the afghan refugees that escaped the soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and nowadays 80% of the area population is of Afghan descent. The girls and boys who funded the collective are second generation afghans. They found in Photography a medium they can use to narrate their daily life. the majority of their work is captured by simple smartphones which makes it accessible to everyone, especially young people.

Reza Heidari is one of them, he fell in love with photography.

The first time he approached photography was when he left as a volunteer to help the victims of the Bam earthquake in 2003. This was the occasion that inspired his first photo report.

Reza understood the importance of storytelling and decided to teach photography to people who lived the same conditions as him, Afghan refugee boys who lived on the fringes of Iranian society.

With the collaboration of some other youngsters from his neighborhood he founded the Everyday Golshahr project and they started doing workshops and photographic walks with the community, inviting their Iranian friends, creating moments of conviviality between the two distant and separated communities and sharing experiences and learning from each other.

By not having regular papers in Iran, Reza's life in the country where he grew up was very difficult and he was never recognized as an integral part of that society. So he decides to return to the country where he was born, Afghanistan. He was only three months old when his family fled the war. After more than three decades he returned to his country of origin empty-handed but with a great desire to share his knowledge and experience with his Afghan compatriots. He started to teach photography courses and workshops and lead a photography course as a visiting professor at the university in Kabul.

Everything vanishes with the tragic death of his brother in a terrorist attack west of Kabul, where the Hazara minority resides. Dozens of people lose their lives in this attack, including Mostafa, Reza's younger brother. Reza continues to work but no longer feels safe in Afghanistan, as attacks against his community increase, and he begins to receive personal threats. He has no choice but to leave Afghanistan and return to Iran. He now lives in Iran where he has no rights but continues to work for the community. The future of his sons is a cause of great concern for him: he does not want them to live like him without documents. He dreams to see them grow up in a free society, far from wars and persecutions and the constant fear of getting deported

Morteza Khaleghi/S4C

Ci si indigna anche a Kuala LumpurProtests in Kuala Lumpur

Redazione — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:54:26 +0000

(News from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. By Amanda Ting/S4C KL)

Last Saturday, a small group of Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur (about 400 people) gathered at the iconic Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) park to protest against a new Peacefully Assembly Bill proposed by the repressive government. Among the content of the bill is that citizens are not allowed to protest on the streets or within 50 metres of a school, house of worship, hospital or open public spaces.

(photo: Amanda Ting/S4C KL) click to see the gallery

Notice has to be given to the police 10 days prior to the protest to which an approval is not guaranteed and location of protest is subjected to the approval of the Home Minister. Non citizens and children under 15 years of age are not allowed to protest and any protest prior to approval, the police will fine the organisers MYR 20,000. Although the KLCC management switched on the sprinklers that day, it did not deter any of the protesters and the event went on for about 2 hours before the crowd dispersed peacefully.

The government has bulldozed the bill through the Lower House and despite protests from citizens and the Opposition parties, the ruling government approved the bill within days and now pending approval from the Senate. Citizens will continue their peaceful protests every Saturday through big scale picnics and other fun activities at public spaces by wearing yellow and without the approval of the authority. For your info, Yellow is a colour known to Malaysians as a spin off from the Bersih 2.0 movement demanding for clean and fair election and now a symbol of defiance against senseless laws and saving Malaysia from iron fist rulers.

(photo: Amanda ting/S4C Kuala Lumpur) Click to see the gallery

Background:

Malaysia is a multi racial country rich with a mixture of different ethnicity and culture, where everyone lives in tolerance, peace and harmony. Street protests used to be a thing of the past when our forefathers fought for our country’s independence. However, for the past 2 decades, slowly the rights for citizens to openly express their dissatisfaction with the current regime has been taken away and now the public is now calling the government to return the power and rights to the people. Freedom of expression is guaranteed in the country’s Constitution in Article 10.

Therefore, this bill and the current Police Act is redundant and not consistent with the Constitution.

Citizens are slowly going back to the streets to demand what is rightfully theirs despite of threats and brainwashing by the Government.

We, Malaysians believe that we are a mature society who can protest in peace.

Amanda Ting/S4C Kuala Lumpur

P/S: The Constitution of Malaysia is the most amended in the world thanks to the ruling party’s hunger to hold on to power. We have been ruled by the same party for over 50 years.

[iframe http://www.s4c.it/slides/klprotest 100% 800px]

(News from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. By Amanda Ting/S4C KL)

(photo: Amanda Ting/S4C KL) click to see the gallery

(photo: Amanda ting/S4C Kuala Lumpur) Click to see the gallery

Background:

Therefore, this bill and the current Police Act is redundant and not consistent with the Constitution.

Citizens are slowly going back to the streets to demand what is rightfully theirs despite of threats and brainwashing by the Government.

We, Malaysians believe that we are a mature society who can protest in peace.

Amanda Ting/S4C Kuala Lumpur

P/S: The Constitution of Malaysia is the most amended in the world thanks to the ruling party’s hunger to hold on to power. We have been ruled by the same party for over 50 years.

[iframe http://www.s4c.it/slides/klprotest 100% 800px]

“Sono incazzato nero, e tutto questo non succederà più”

Redazione — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:05:29 +0000

[english below]

Roma, 1 luglio 2010 (Piazza Navona)

Manifestazione contro il disegno di legge intercettazioni, la cd “legge bavaglio”

(clicca qui per la photogallery)

“Sono incazzato nero, e tutto questo non lo accetterò più” (Quinto Potere, 1976)

(clicca per la gallery di Michele Magini)

Una manifestazione variopinta contro una legge a dir poco sbagliata.

Nonostante il caldo soffocante Piazza Navona era affollata da persone comuni, giornalisti personaggi della cultura e dello spettacolo e da esponenti politici.
Ognuno presente per manifestare pacificamente contro una legge che vuole imbavagliare l’informazione.

Musica e allegria ad accompagnare i manifestanti di tutte le età. Non era raro incontrare padri e figli o molti nonni (partigiani e non) con i propri nipoti. Una giornata calda ma viva.

Noi di S4c siamo andati a vedere con i nostri occhi per raccontare e perchè forse ci sentiamo tirati in causa.

Vogliamo continuare a raccontare storie liberamente in maniera imparziale, nel rispetto delle persone delle quali parliamo ma senza dover obbedire a direttive, tagli censori e compromessi.

Ligabue canta, in una recente canzone, che “la libertà è una scelta”. Noi di S4C aggiungiamo che essere liberi di raccontarla è un diritto.

E lasciare la gente libera di farlo….è un OBBLIGO.

Antonio Amendola e Michele Magini per S4C

[vsw id=”OY4dm5MsVoY” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”yes”]

Lately, the Italian Governement issued a draft law that is alleged to deeply impact on the excersise of freedom of expression by media (tv, radios, newspapers, blogs).

It is intended to “safeguard the privacy of citizens” not allowing the publication of legal intercepted conversation of people involved in investigation (which to a certain extent is fair and subject to fair regulation) and expose Journalist and Media in general to heavy fines and JAIL if thei report and cover those stories.

Yesterday, in Rome (piazza Navona) a large crowd manifested peacefully against it, asking for a free information in our free country.

S4C was there, of course.

We, at Shoot 4 Change, as the famous rocker Ligabue sings, believe that “telling the truth is a choice”. And believe that being free to express it is a right…

and leaving the people free to do it is a DUTY!

Antonio Amendola and Michele Magini/ S4C

(clicca qui per la galleria di Michele Magini)

La forza delle immagini che non abbiamo ancora visto…

Redazione — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:24:12 +0000

Ce lo siamo già detti. Una grande fotografia può catturare “il momento decisivo“, come diceva Cartier-Bresson.

Denunciare verità scomode, sconvolgere l’opinione pubblica, sbattere in faccia la cruda verità. Tutto questo per un fotoreporter degno di questo nome è istintivo. Fa parte di una sorta di codice deontologico che permea la sua vita ed è insito nella sua macchina fotografica.

Teddy Roosvelt battezzò “Muckraker” (pescatori nel torbido) quei fotografi che denunciarono lo sfruttamento minorile negli USA.

Il problema, a volte, però, non è pescare nel torbido. E’ riuscire a mostrare quel che si è scoperto.

Vi segnalo un bellissimo articolo del NY TIMES a proposito della forza esplosiva dell’ormai tristemente famosa foto di Neda Agha-Soltan, vero simbolo (suo malgrado, immagino) della rivolta in Iran. Nell’articolo viene riportato un momento di imbarazzo del Presidente Obama che, intervenuto sul tema della potenza delle immagini e di quanto queste possono aiutare a muovere i sentimenti di una nazione, ha usato (ne sono certo, suo malgrado) argomenti piuttosto deboli sull’uso di foto inedite dei campi di detenzione Usa in giro per il mondo.

Ricordate Abu Gahibr?

Lo scandalo di Abu Ghraib

La foto di quelle torture, in un certo senso, segnò il momento di svolta della politica americana. Costrinse gli Stati Uniti a guardarsi allo specchio. Fu una sberla in faccia e li fece risvegliare dal torpore morale nel quale erano caduti. Li costrinse a fare i conti con la propria storia e con i propri valori. Fortunatamente è andata bene.

Quella foto servì. Era potente. Assolse il suo compito.

Ora ci dicono che ce ne sono altre in giro ma che un uso non accorto potrebbe avere effetti indesiderati.

Può essere vero. Ma la trasparenza è il fondamento della democrazia.

Ad ogni modo, lungi dal volermi impelagare in un discorso politico, vi segnalo la classifica che Vanity Fair USA ha stilato una lista delle 25 migliori fotografie di cronaca. Quelle, per intenderci, che hanno davvero cambiato qualcosa…

L'immagine simbolo della Grande Depressione (Dorothea Lange)

Dallo splendido ritratto di Florence Owens Thompson scattato da Dorothea Lange (che per tutti è il simbolo della Grande Depressione)

all’esecuzione del miliziano Viet Cong nel 68 scattata da Eddie Adams.

Saigon, 1968 (Eddie Adams)

Dalla foto di Douglas Martin che rese conto dell’ingresso del primo studente di colore in un liceo di Charlotte

primi studenti di colore in un liceo di Charlotte (Douglas Martin)

all’avvoltoio di osserva una sua prossima preda in Sudan (la foto è di Kevin Carter).

Sudan (foto di Kevin Carter)

O la foto dell’arresto della Storia a Tienanmen, congelato da Stuart Franklin.

Piazza Tienanmen (Stuart Franklin)

O Hiroshima

Hiroshima

O la liberazione di Berlino

La lista è lunghissima e potrebbe, anzi, essere sterminata.

Comincio a pensare, comunque, che la vera forza è delle immagini che ancora non abbiamo visto.

Antonio/Shoot For Change

PS chiudo segnalandovi una bella poesia dell’intellettuale iraniano Rafey Abib in memoria di Neda Agha-Soltan:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhi2w2joJ4c&feature=fvsr]

Shoot 4 Change » freedom of expression

August 15th was a day no Afghan can forget

(a story of Morteza Khaleghi/S4C)

Ci si indigna anche a Kuala LumpurProtests in Kuala Lumpur

(News from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. By Amanda Ting/S4C KL)

(News from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. By Amanda Ting/S4C KL)

“Sono incazzato nero, e tutto questo non succederà più”

[english below]

Roma, 1 luglio 2010 (Piazza Navona)

Manifestazione contro il disegno di legge intercettazioni, la cd “legge bavaglio”

La forza delle immagini che non abbiamo ancora visto…