Tehran hosts photo exhibit on Afghan women’s beauty forgotten amid war

Tehran-based Afghan photographer Fatimah Hosseini has held a photo exhibit on the beauty of her homeland’s women that for years has been hidden amid war. 

Hosseini’s latest collection named ‘Beauty amid War’ is currently on view in an exhibit at the Iranian Artists Forum in Tehran.

“I was born in Tehran in an Afghan family and when I lived in Afghanistan for four years, I noticed the beauty of women amid war that had never been featured before by any media,” Hossaini said in a press release.

“The lives of the women pictured in ‘Beauty amid War’ are full of stories and they have been photographed over three years since 2018,” she added.

She noted that the collection has been amassed mostly in Kabul, because the conservative attitude and restrictions on photography in other cities thwart any attempt at artistic activities.

She put her life in danger several times to set the stage for her collection. “In many regions, such as in Nangarhar, you wouldn’t even dare hold a camera,” she said.

In a statement for the exhibition, Hossaini wrote, “The image of Afghan women is now blackened by successive wars, as we constantly talk about war and perhaps have become accustomed to their symbolic presence with blue burqas or even their absence.”

The exhibition will be running until June 21 at the Momayyez Gallery of the Iranian Artists Forum.

MM/FM