Description: A photo exhibition featuring Majid Saeedi’s evocative images.
Due to a precarious internal political and religious situation in the country, the Afghan people have always had to deal with conflict and military occupation. The war and continuing internal instability have resulted in much trauma to the people and severe damage to the economy and infrastructure. The rest of the Russian tanks continue to be present in the streets, mountains and valleys. After the war with the Soviet Union, the communists took power over the country. It was at this point that the more conservative Muslims began to organize, eventually succeeding in gaining power. Later, they themselves proved to be another reason for conflict, which peaked in the civil war between al-Qaeda and regular Afghan civilians. Only after 9/11 the world realized what was really happening in Afghanistan, and the dynamics of the civil war changed again. Afghans, ever since an alliance of foreign countries took sides against al-Qaeda, have been facing a new conflict.
After foreign forces left Afghanistan in late 2014, domestic militias have been responsible for providing internal security in the country. Despite the consistent Taliban insurgency and the many additional problems Afghanistan has faced, the ANA (Afghan National Army), has continued to grow over the years. At the beginning of 2013, reliable data stated that the Afghan Army numbered about 200,000 units. The NATO training mission has continued to train Afghan troops, and several women have also begun enlisting. However, despite the many training sessions and the support of foreign forces, today’s security situation in Afghanistan not only does not seem to have improved, but is getting worse day by day. And of course, the victims who mainly suffer the consequences of such a crisis are once again the civilians.
Location:
INFO
Location: Via Fiorentina, 95 – Siena
Period: 2016
Photographer Biography:
Majid Saeedi is an Iranian documentary photographer, born and raised in Tehran. For the past twenty years his reports have documented the Middle East focusing on humanitarian aspects. Majid is mainly interested in telling unedited stories focusing on injustices and social problems. He started photography at the age of 16, and as soon as he turned 18, he moved to the Iranian-Iraqi border to photograph refugees. Majid is currently working with Getty Images through reports on Iran and Iraq. He has managed the photography department of several agencies in Iran leading several major projects over the past 15 years. Street photography represents one of his favorite genres because he is able to portray and document the everyday life of ordinary people. When he is not working, Majid likes to teach and share his photographic technique as well as his passion to young people just starting out. He has won numerous prestigious photography awards around the world and received the title of “Best Iranian Photographer” eight times. His photographs have been published by major international newspapers such as Times, Spiegel, Life, New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Time Magazine and several agencies in the Middle East. Majid has traveled to many countries in the Middle East documenting many injustices and atrocities. His most recent reportage shows, with images sometimes raw and of strong emotional impact, the story of the Afghan people during the recent and infamous conflicts.
