For me it is not a detachment to take a picture. It’s a way of touching somebody – it’s a caress.
– Nan Goldin

I arrived in Kabul almost by accident, initially for a month. I wanted to be ‘war correspondent’; and a journalist friend casually said ‘go on, Afghanistan is good to start.’ His words still resonate in my head. That was seven years ago. During all these years I have wandered through Afghanistan, and I have tried to understand it as an insider rather than a paid professional. I do not know if I have succeeded, but I have been deeply touched by the country and the people I have met and now the way I look at it is full of tenderness.

Finally, I brought back hardly any ‘war’ photographs from this experience. Rather, the continuity of everyday life in this turbulent country fascinated me. I try here to show a sense of uneasiness by highlighting a certain latent distress, underlined by imperceptible details that would emerge on a daily basis: ordinary situations, or moments in-between, where the tension is tangible, emotions perceptible, but the conflict rarely visible.

Afghan Dream is a long-term narrative realized between 2012 and 2013. The intervention of coalition forces, the return of the diaspora and a major aid effort favoured both the resurgence of a middle class and the emergence of a young generation in the capital. I wanted to report on daily life and to present Afghans, Kabul is specifically, in the most candid way possible. I felt it was important to make a Western viewer more sensitised to the situation in order to find an alternative view to the majority of pictures spread by the media.

All images from the series Afghan Dream © Sandra Calligaro/Picturetank Kabul, 2012-13 Digital

A man poses with his son for a photo in front of one of the sceneries of the City Star, a wedding hall in the Afghan capital. 2012

A man poses with his son for a photo in front of one of the sceneries of the City Star, a wedding hall in the Afghan capital. 2012

Karte Naw, literally “the new district.” 2012

Young men gather in the ruins of the Russian Cultural Centre in Kabul, with the artist Shamsia Hassani’s graffiti painted on the walls behind them. 2012

Sparghai and his family spend a Friday afternoon at Qargha Lake. On a hill overhanging the lake, Frough, Sparghai’s cousin, mimics the famous Titanic film scene with her fiancé. 2013 Made in Afghanistan Text by Moska Najib

On a hill overhanging the Qargha Lake, a recreational area located a few kms away from Kabul.

Absorbé par Spider Man.
Kaboul, Afghanistan 2012.

Le nouveau “McDonald’s” de Kaboul. Pas de franchise, juste le logo pixellisé apposé sur les menus. Il y a quelques années, un “KFC” version kabulie avait déjà ouvert ses portes : le “Kabul Fried Chicken”. Kaboul, Afghanistan 2013.

Basir a un rendez-vous galant dans un café. Sa petite-amie est en fait sa cousine. A Kaboul, la plupart des flirts se font entre cousins éloignés ou entre collègues ; se voir dans le cadre familial ou sur son lieu de travail évite de se faire démasquer. Kaboul, Afghanistan 2013.

Des enfants jouent «à la guerre» dans la résidence de Shahrak-e Aria, nouveaux complexes immobiliers à l’accès réglementé en périphérie nord de la ville. Kaboul, Afghanistan 2013.

La salle de jeu pour enfants, le « Kabul Fried Chicken », version kaboulie du KFC. Il y a quelques mois, un “McDonald’s” a également ouvert ses portes à Kaboul. Pas de franchise, juste le logo pixellisé apposé sur les menus.
Kaboul, Afghanistan 2013.

Matin, rappeur. Réfugié en Iran pendant toute son adolescence, ses chansons parlent d’exil, de guerre et d’amour. Kaboul, Afghanistan 2013.

Les tours de Rahman Mina, en banlieue est de Kaboul. Kaboul, Afghanistan 2013.

 

En contre-haut de la base de loisir du lac Qargha, au sud de Kaboul.
Kaboul, Afghanistan 2013.

Le rayon DVD du Finest Supermarché. Kaboul, Afghanistan 2013.