Saturday, August 18, 2018

Jean Charles Blanc: Radio Kabul Hardcover – May 9, 2017 by Jean Charles Blanc (Author), Atiq Rahimi (Author) (Verlag Kettler)



A beautiful book, about 100 stunning black and white photos of people and landscapes, taken in Afghanistan in 1972, a time of peace before the Russian invasion and civil war. The only text is a short lyrical introduction by the photographer, translated from the French — and a few texts of songs sung by the women entertainers whom he pictures. This 9 x 10" book, printed on heavy paper, is published by a German art publishing house.

A carefree photographic exploration of Afghanistan: a country that was soon to be torn apart by warfare• Haunting pictures of landscapes and people, now irrevocably changedImagine Afghanistan prior to the terror. In 1963, Blanc set out for India by car, travelling with two friends. One of the many countries they crossed was Afghanistan: an exotic, unfamiliar land which they began to explore. Visiting villages, towns, theatres, bars and markets, Blanc portrayed people and landscapes in equal measure. His black-and-white photographs bear testimony to a world that has long ceased to exist.To someone from the Western world, the pictures seem curiously familiar yet disturbingly different from everything we generally think of in relation to Afghanistan. Blanc shows removed dream places, pristine landscapes, moving portraits and intimate moments. His photography is all the more potent in hindsight, as we know the country and its people he depicts had their hopes for the future cruelly dashed only a short while later.

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