Edward Grazda

Here, Talib Muslim men are shown outside a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, days before the Taliban banned the photography of living things. Deriving their name from the Arabic word for students, the Taliban are a faction of the US-backed mujahideen (strugglers) who fought against Soviet occupation in the 1980s. Following the Afghan Civil War, they put a strict interpretation of religious texts into practice.

According to more conservative Islamic scholars, image-making is controversial, because artists do not have the same creative powers as Allah (God; SWT). This usually only refers to images intended for devotional use, but, as seen in manuscript paintings and photographs nearby, the line between allowing and obscuring faces has been crossed many times.

Grazda has photographed the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan since 1980. He described the Taliban’s rule in Kabul as of February 1997 in his book, Afghanistan Diary 1992-2000, where this image appears:

After five years of civil war in Kabul, most of the city was destroyed, and

many civilians had been killed or wounded. Everyone had guns, and there

was a general sense of unease….At various posts around the city, where Mujahideen fighters once camped, Taliban militia men and boys sat. Most

were friendly, and invited the guests for tea. Some let me photograph them, although they had been told by their commanders not to be photographed.

Many told stories of atrocities committed by Mujahideen factions during

the civil war. They said that now that the Taliban was in charge, Kabul

was safe and free from ‘corruption.’…A week after I left Kabul, all forms

of photography-even family portraits-were banned.