Trapped contained in the Taliban’s Afghanistan

(A journey throughout Afghanistan within the Sixties)

Shakeri’s photographs stand as a testomony to this loss, seen within the wider panorama of an Afghanistan rife with poverty, unemployment, and hunger. They additionally search to spotlight the tales of people, particularly ladies and members of marginalized teams, who misplaced their rights and freedoms because the Taliban weaponized their very identities in opposition to them. 

The end result, as illustrated in Shakeri’s images, is a rustic seemingly caught in time, its individuals residing in a liminal house between what as soon as was and what might have been. “It [is] like a black hole of ignorance that consumes all light and holds it within, with no clear end to how far it will devour,” Shakeri notes, describing the abyss that’s now the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. 

Shakeri hopes his photographs will foster empathy by humanizing communities which have survived years of conflicts, invasions, colonization, and extremist fundamentalism. “When audiences become familiar with the details of people’s lives and personalities, they no longer see them as distant, unfamiliar ‘others.’ Instead, they recognize their shared humanity,” he says.  

Names marked with an asterisk within the captions have been modified for causes of security. Ages given mirror when the images had been taken.