KABUL: The striking photographer who is striking with yourself is the declaration of independence and his inheritance – but in Afghanistan which comes with a deadly risk.
The latest 33-year-old artist player exhibition was forced online after he faced a threat to his work showing off several strong female figures.
High profile women including media workers, judges and activists are among more than 180 people who have been killed since September – US government violence and Afghanistan blamed the Taliban.
“We are a minority that fights, raises our voices.
By killing some of us, they will force us all silent,” he said about the rebels.
“They send a message: ‘You have no place, if you want to do this, you will be killed’,” he added.
Like most of his friends, he no longer follows any routine and has limited his movements throughout the country.
“We keep saying (for) each other who ‘ok, we have to stay alive’ because if we die, then what’s the point?” she says.
Militants carried out a default attack against Afghan forces, after peace talks between the strike side.
Last week, all US and NATO troops left Bagram Air Base near Kabul – Command Center for anti-Taliban operations – effectively wrapping out after 20 years of military involvement in Afghanistan.
Reminiscent of Mexican Feminist Artists Frida Kahlo, Akbar is often captured wearing a crown, with heavy gold and silver jewelry valued by nomad tribes in his portrait, while known for his amazing photos in Afghanistan.
He has been behind a series of exhibitions celebrating international women’s day on the former Royal Palace Kabul.
Last year he used a doll to describe extraordinary figures including filmmakers, a footballer and – under the gauze bathrobe with gravel – Rokhshana, a woman stoned to death by the Taliban to escape from forced marriage.
This year, he made a virtual presentation of the program about abarzanan – superwomen in English – which was broadcast for empty seats arranged at the Kabul Museum.
One of the five sisters, including the Head of the Independent Human Rights Commission Afghanistan Shaharzad Akbar, he always received support from his parents, a writer and teacher.
Unusual for a single woman in Afghanistan, Akbar has lived alone for ten years in a kabul apartment.
“(Afghanistan) is far more conservative now, in the past women have roles in society, in the art, the private sector …
they enjoy more freedom,” he said.
Everything changed with the arrival of the Mujahideen, which fought the Soviet invasion in 1979 funded by America.
After the Soviets were kicked out and the war of the brother erupted, the Taliban established the footing before seizing power and forcing one of the hardest regimes in the world, which forbade women from education and work.
He said women were often described as victims in the West, an attitude dedicated to change.
“The history of Afghan women did not start after 2001,” he said about the US-led invasion that overthrew the Taliban.
“We have a long and rich past that is always contributed by women.” He felt “disrespectful” when the international community claimed to be behind the empowerment of women in Afghanistan, and frustrated that a modern Afghan woman was often measured by whether she could speak English and if she was wearing Western clothes.
“We attack our culture.
This is another form of colonization,” he said.
The feeling left behind was betrayed by Washington withdrawal with the Taliban – who saw the US promised to leave the country in return for security guarantees, without insisting on every perop of women or human rights – he lost hope.
Having a war that was known in Afghanistan, Akbar said the situation worsened to have an impact on his mental health, his concentration and creativity.
“I feel very close to death lately.
Will I live tomorrow?”
Afghan female photographers under threat
