Exhibition Review - Out Of The Dust at PM Gallery, Ealing until August 31 2008.
Scarcely a week goes by without new images of the fighting in Afghanistan, but whilst conflict has been a common feature of the landscape since 1979 it is easy to forget that civilian life goes on around the combat.
Hans Stakelbeek was commissioned by the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs to document the process of reconstruction in 2007. He made four trips to Afghanistan last year, mostly around Kabul and Uruzgan, but also to more remote areas.
Whilst out there he became preoccupied with capturing the lives and stories of the people he met, as well as the official aid efforts. Out of the Dust marks the first time these photographs have been seen in the UK.
One of the first images in the exhibition depicts a group of children playing in the shade of a diving platform, much like the one our Olympic hopefuls have been cavorting from in Beijing.
Stakelbeek’s written commentary explains that this Olympic swimming pool was built by the Soviet regime in the 1980s, but was never filled with water. A decade later, in rituals reminiscent of sixteenth-century witch trials, members of the Taliban used to push blindfolded criminals from the top platform – if they survived the fall they were innocent.
Sobering insights like this one are not the purpose of the exhibition however. Billed as ‘a rare view of daily life in Afghanistan without a military slant’, Stakelbeek succeeds heroically in capturing the humour and personality of his subjects, as well as their resilience.
(Above) The faces of the future law enforcers of Afghanistan, members of the Afghan National Auxiliary Police.
A memorable series of images show aspiring police officers giggling during a demonstration of a body search. Stakelbeek devotes a series of portraits to these men – the unsung heroes of a regime that is struggling to achieve transparency and accountability after years of primitive mob rule.
The process of reconstruction goes on, but so does the process of Afghans coming into their own. A hillside in Kabul is dotted with identical beige houses, all built recently with foreign investment, but some of the inhabitants have painted colourful patterns on their doors.
The Afghanistan that emerges is one of change and apparent contradictions. Shiny new Toyotas have appeared on the market but there is only one main paved road in the country. Children turn up in droves to go to school but the teachers still have to pay smugglers to get their pay cheques through.
Stakelbeek is also keen to point out how misleading a photograph can be, especially when viewed on its own. In two juxtaposed images a young girl is seen, at first shy and distant, and then breaking out into a brilliant gap-toothed grin. The commentary reads: “A picture only shows part of the truth. Two photos, taken a few seconds apart, can make a huge difference to our perception of a situation.”
(Above) Afghani men watch a slide-show put on by The Provincial Reconstruction Team
Bearing this in mind, it is important to consider what we are not being shown. The absence of women, particularly in all of the outdoor shots, is a notable and perhaps unavoidable omission. Of the many images of children at school there is not one of a teacher. One wonders if they were protecting their identities deliberately.
Cynical observers might also point out that there is no trace of misery or hostility in the people photographed; after all, these pictures were commissioned by the Dutch government to document its aid work. But given the ubiquity of images of suffering in Afghanistan this omission is surely to be not so much overlooked as applauded.
PM Gallery, the extension to Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing. Hans Stakelbeek will be giving a free tour of the exhibition at 2pm, Saturday August 30 2008.
