Afghanistan Series Vol. 4

The western world abandoned texture in the late 50s. For better or for worse, the modern design concept shares the aesthetic presumptions of a hospital. Machine-smoothed surfaces and mathematically perfect curves suggest order, cleanliness, simplicity, and secular ablution. One would not describe Afghanistan with these words.

Afghanistan remains pre-industrial in terms of both architectural capability and design concepts. Drop a modern building in Afghanistan. The Afghans can only comprehend it as a symbol of a symbol (in this case, the West). Their capabilities cannot yet sustain a culture that may, if it so chooses, nurture the ideas that give meaning and context to modern architecture. 

High ASA black and white film features massive grain and high-contrast for capturing texture. We hunted for texture and contrast (specifically in architecture) for this shoot. In retrospect, I probably should have grabbed some Afghans, but explaining the importance of being exactly still during long-exposure and low-light photography is sometimes more trouble than it’s worth. The grain effects here are all real-- no post-processing whatsoever. Special thanks to SPC Dailey for helping with this shoot. I gather he’s interested in taking up medium format film photography himself. Good for you; it’s a blast.

*Film: Delta Ilford 3200 pushed to 6400