KABUL, Afghanistan 6 January 2014 — I keep going back to this: It’s all about light. And how light plays on form, and composition, and movement. Light is our primary raw material.
I made this image (it’s a screen shot from video) at a market in Kabul, while working on a documentary about a team of Afghan girls competing in an international arbitration contest later this year. I needed to generate some context for the girls’ background. Where they come from. What conditions they live in. What life is like for them.
Kabul is a rough neighborhood. Power outages are routine. Transportation is problematic. Many girls are restricted by cultural norms. Violence plagues not just Kabul but the entire country. Just a few days after my 10 January departure for Washington, 21 people died in an attack by Taliban fighters on a restaurant frequented by foreigners. The restaurant was a couple of blocks from the guest house where I stayed — and right next door to a convenience store where I regularly purchased bottled water and toiletries. #documentaries
©Bill Gentile