Across cultures with pictures

Abiya Ahmad reports on the Sharjah Women's College's photography exchange programme with Afghan students.

When we think of photography, we usually think of cameras, composition, colours, or other technical aspects of the field. We forget, however, that the word itself literally means "writing with light". So in essence a photograph tells a story, at times conveying meaning very successfully when words fail. Some pictures, then, are really worth a thousand words.

Working with this philosophy, students of Sharjah Women's College (SWC) have undertaken a special project through which they will tell a story: the story of women in the UAE. But what makes it even more special is that it is being done in coordination with Aina Photo Agency, Afghanistan's first independent photojournalism agency, which already has a variety of photos depicting the life of Afghan women.

The result? A cross-cultural exchange, whereby SWC students will share their photos with Aina and vice versa. Students and officials involved in the project speak exclusively to Notes about the project, photography and photojournalism.

The project

SWC faculty member Ian Pollock, who is overseeing the assignment, conceived the idea of such an exchange during a photo exhibition in Dubai, where he met with Dimitri Beck, editor-in-chief of Aina Photo.

"I asked Dimitri to speak to the students briefly about what he does, and they responded very well and enjoyed what he had to say. So I suggested that since we at SWC train students in photography, and he does the same for photographers in Afghanistan, maybe we could have some sort of an exchange and work together, and he agreed," said Pollock.

Life in a Muslim country

They have since then worked together to realise the project, which aims to help both the students and the photojournalists from Afghanistan learn about life in another Muslim country, while at the same time, address the technical aspects of telling a story successfully through photography.

Beck said the "project is important because we're crossing borders. Both cultures are similar in some ways and different in others, and this is a great educational opportunity to promote understanding by showing how women's daily life functions in both countries."

Pollock explained that the theme of ?Women' was chosen because it is a broad subject, and students had the chance to pursue any issue related to this theme. "In Kabul as well, pictures of women are now emerging depicting their daily life, and Aina already has a fairly decent set of images on the issue. Plus this is a women's college so we wanted to stay within that identity," he added.

Aina Photo Agency

- It is Afghanistan's first photojournalism agency, created in 2004.

- It is part of the larger non-governmental organisation Aina, which is Afghanistan's independent media and culture centre.

- "We started out with an Aina Photo Institute in 2002, with a training programme for 25 Afghan men and women," said Dimitri Beck, editor-in-chief of Aina Photo.

- "This is a one-year programme in which they learn photography, professional software like Adobe Photoshop and how to use a computer," he added.

- Following the success of this programme, the Aina Photo Agency was created in early 2004. n Currently there are eight men and two women (all Afghan) working for the agency, and "the idea is to train them in the work of photojournalism", said Beck.

- It gives them a chance to tell their story and depict their daily life after so many years of conflict and political instability.

- Their work has been used in international print media and sold to several countries including France, Spain, Italy and Japan.

Parvaz

- It is a bi-monthly children's magazine in Afghanistan, one of the productions of Aina World.

- Launched in August 2002, it now has a circulation of 25,000 and is read by 500,000 Afghan children.

- The magazine, which is printed in both Dari and Pashto, explores a variety of topics including science, nature, sports, Afghan traditions, travel and technology.

- It is produced entirely by Afghan journalists, writers, illustrators and photographers.

- Parvaz is distributed in the provinces through non-governmental organisations in schools and orphanages.

- Nine issues of Parvaz have been produced, and the tenth one is in production.

- The magazine is in need of funding.

- In a country with an illiteracy rate of about 80 per cent, this publication is a small consolation and a symbol of hope for children.

- For more information, log on to www.ainaworld.org.

What did the students do?

As a result, students have come up with various sub-themes that explore women as playing both traditional and modern roles in the country.

Fatima Ahmad
She chose to photograph national women working in Etisalat

"I wanted to show that women are working with men in the same place, and that they are working hard at the same tasks, and get the same salary."

Shurooq Al Qasimi
She decided to portray working women by focusing on two occupations: a teacher and an employee in the government sector.

"I wanted to show the variation between the jobs, and illustrate how UAE national women are succeeding at work no matter how different their jobs are."

Kalthoum Rashid
She wanted Afghan women to be able to relate to her photo essay and so she chose motherhood as her theme.

"My theme explores a day in a national mother's life and I believe the relationship between a mother and her children is beyond words. I chose this because it is something we all share."

Shaima Hassan
She focused on the issue of the hijab.

"Many people have a misconception about this issue, and think that we wear it because we want to hide from the world. I wanted to show that we could wear anything we like, and just because we cover over it doesn't mean we are hiding. The hijab establishes our Muslim identity. "

Note: The major challenge faced by students during this project was the reluctance of many women to be photographed.