I spent the first fifteen
months in post-Taliban Afghanistan working for a humanitarian aid agency
in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. It was a remarkable experience,
as I was fortunate enough to travel farther afield on surveys and more
extensively around the country than most of the other foreigners there.
It became home in a way and I still remember fondly the people and places
we visited. I took over a thousand photographs during my travels on
a variety of topics and would like to present some of them here, as
it was and continues to be such an intense life experience. I'm back
again, this time in Kandahar in a different context with a resurgent
Taliban, for going on two more years now! I have much more access this
time to information regarding the underlying political intrigue, especially
in this part of the country. The bad and the good, in all places and
in all of us, continues to define our time and place in history.
Afghanistan is a beautiful,
complex country at the crossroads of history, with many wonderful people
despite the well-documented problems. I tried to take some photos of
normal life and people enjoying themselves at times instead of solely
the war damage and suffering so common in the mainstream media, who
often did not venture outside of Kabul. There is suffering, and countries
must work not to abandon the promises we made, but believe it or not
people there do get through life with some of the same joys, difficulties,
and family celebrations that we all have, in spite of the hardships
most of us do not understand. How well you are doing often has to do
with who you are, where you are, and in which time period. Many localized
coping strategies had developed, however they are under strain now.
So much so that some criminal activities have become a means of survival
for some people, a way to exploit for others. Either way, simple solutions
will not work in such a complex environment that we really understand
only on the surface. I believe you will find the photos portray the
more human side of the story.
Feedback on the photos and
this site are most welcome. I am trying to decide if I should do something
further with the photos such as framing and selling some of the more
artistic shots, as a way of contributing to funding child protection
projects or necessary small projects that are chronically short of funding.
I am willing to discuss ideas and the ethical implications of this.
I would like to find a way for the people and villages in the photos
to benefit directly. I would like to do a coffee table book. All photos
and writings are copyrighted by myself, but written permission may be
obtained for educational use or other purposes if they are not exploited
for profit. I have been selling some of the photos for publications
or book covers, so please enquire at the email below. One either very
honest or slightly loopy person wrote to say to make the photos bigger;
he wasn't able to steal them for his own benefit!
My contact info is:
jppatten98@yahoo.com
Additionally, I have included
my CV, as I am often on one year contracts and do some writing and photography
in between. I have also included my journal writings from that time
as a link on the left. It is a very irreverent take on the humanitarian
situation here and has a sense of immediacy, as many daily entries were
written right in the middle of it all. It can give some insights on
various issues you will not find in other publications. I would like
to get it published as part of a larger work, even with my current experiences
here or from the times I lived in village Africa. I hope in the future
to have a section on those photos, if I can ever find my way back to
my storage unit in Los Angeles to get them out!
I am looking in the future
to possibly offer my services in project photography. I would travel
anywhere in the world at short notice for agencies looking to document
their efforts. The cost would be a fraction of what professional photographers
charge, possibly with better results! Look at the photos and decide.
Cheers!
John Patrick Patten
The following links may prove useful as well to view
other photos:
www.afghan-web.com
www.lukepowell.com
http://www.afghana.com/Photographs/Photos.htm
I got back to Kandahar in September 2004 and am still
here. Have lots friends and colleagues due to the security situation
in that time. Me, I just keep surviving along with a million others.
Hopefully I'll have even more photos and writings from this time posted
in the future. Thank you to all those that have written in the past
year for your support, suggestions and questions.
Last Updated: July 12th, 2006 from Kandahar, Afghanistan.
