middle east

This is a beautiful book of photographs and text by the 33 year old photographer/author. Tracing a grandfather's origins back to Pakistan, Fazal discovers that the area where his ancestor lived is now an Afghani refugee camp. He meets the people, finds out their stories and travels to the war ravaged capitol to photograph the inconceivable devastation. His specialty is poetic text and portraits done in the clasical,direct, nineteenth century style. One powerful series is done in a extraordinary closeups by gaslight and focuses on the face exclusively. These expressive faces combine with their life histories to form a moving document of the tragedy of Afghanistan. The book closes with a series of portraits of children reminiscent of Walker Evan's best work. Harsh history is revealed in their faces. A beautiful and poetic account of human dignity in war torn Afghanistan.