Artist Statement

This is what “they” look like

On October 7th, 2001 the United States began its first bombing campaign of Afghanistan.  Working as a make-up artist at the time gave me the opportunity to interact with people from all walks of life.  I was always asked where I was from.  Prior to the bombings, very few people even knew where or what Afghanistan was.  I was now greeted with responses like: “Oh honey, don’t worry.  You don’t look like “them”!” and “God bless the women and children of your country.”  I was stunned at the amount of ignorance I encountered.  What did “they” look like, exactly?  Why were just the women and children of my country worthy of God’s blessings?

I felt hurt, shocked, angry, sad and even hopeless at times.  How does one respond to such ignorant comments? Do you pray that they educate themselves one day and travel and see what is actually out there in the world?  So that they too can one day, see how other people live with sufferings, as well as hopes and dreams.  “They” are just like you and me – human!

I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and had always yearned to revisit my homeland to see all the beautiful and haunting images my parents and family members had painted for me while growing up in the States. In August 2006, my trip home finally became a reality. I didn’t know what to expect, what I was going to encounter, or how I was going to feel.  I stepped off the plane and took a breath of Afghanistan’s dry, cool air.  I immediately felt at home in a country that I had not been in for twenty-seven years, nearly all my life.  I spent a month there and traveled through places like Kabul, Mazaar-e-Sharif, and Ghazni, to name a few.  As a woman, it was not easy to walk around freely taking photographs.  I did what I could, when I could and tried to capture every moment of my time there.

My journey was one that has changed my life forever.  No words can truly begin to describe the things that I have seen and my experiences.  I have met children no older than the age of seven, yet older than me in so many ways.  I have met men and women who have shared their stories with me, while I wondered how they had the courage to go on living another day.  How could they sit in front of me, a stranger who they treated like long, lost family and just smile?  Who had nothing material but would give me the shirt off their backs, if I had just uttered the words.  Never in my life have I met a more humble and brave people.  If I can share with the world even a piece of this beautiful country and its amazing people through the lenses of my soul, then maybe I can reverse some of the ignorance that I have encountered and shed some light on the rich culture of my homeland.

I dedicate my work to the strongest people I know, the beautiful people of my homeland, Afghanistan.  A group in which I proudly consider myself one of “them.”

-Sama Hashime