I took a photography workshop in Bamiyan, Afghanistan in September 2019 with the group Ishkar and the photojournalist Andrew Quilty.
Lomography ran a photo essay with my 35mm photos, which you can find here. The accompanying photos are a mix of my 35mm and my digital.
Bamiyan is a little over a hundred miles northwest of Kabul and sits directly between two monumental historic sites. A network of caves from the third to sixth century is carved into a two hundred foot tall sandstone cliff face at the northern border of the city. These cliffs once housed the famous Bamiyan Buddhas, until the Taliban destroyed them in two thousand one.
And to the south, ever prominent on a hill overlooking Bamiyan, sits the ruined city of Gholgola, also known as the City of Screams (which was destroyed by Ghengis Khan in the thirteenth century).
Bamiyan is also known as one of the safest areas in the country, owing as much to its physical accessibility (only two roads run into the city) as its largely Hazara population. This is a quick portrait of the city and the immediate area. The third and fourth photos are shot from the City of Screams, looking toward Bamiyan. The final photo is of the cave networks and the Buddha nooks, where the Buddha’s once stood.
