Bizarre photos of Taliban fighters in heavy make-up and holding hands have come to light. The photos were found by a photographer in Kandahar after the militant group fled approaching US forces in 2002.
The pictures will be displayed at Barbican, an exhibition on masculinity to be held in London next year.
What is interesting about the pictures is that the Taliban themselves had placed a ban on photography under their rule.
The photos were found by a German photographer, Thomas Dworzak, after the Taliban had fled the area just before the US forces captured the area.
Dworzak came across the photos at the Photo Shah Shop in Kandahar, where the Taliban would supposedly pay for their pictures to be taken.
The pictures show the fighters with their faces in heavy make-up, and with their fingers interlocked. Under the Taliban regime, two men showing affection to each other and using make-up would have been treated harshly by the Taliban. It is interesting to see that the militant group was not very strict in following its own rules.
The photographer gave the images to the German photographer, Said Kamal, informed him that soldiers would ask him for a ‘flattering portait, secretly taken in the decorated back room of the studio’.
Kamal told Dworzak that he would edit the pictures by adding a glow to the white turbans of the fighters and would sometimes use bright primary colours and images of Swiss Alps as backgrounds.
Even though photography was banned under the rule of the Taliban, some photo studios remained open for the provision of identification cards and passport.
When Dworzak was given the photos, Kamal told him that he was not worried as most of the fighters were dead.
The pictures will be displayed at Barbican, an exhibition on masculinity to be held in London next year.
What is interesting about the pictures is that the Taliban themselves had placed a ban on photography under their rule.
The photos were found by a German photographer, Thomas Dworzak, after the Taliban had fled the area just before the US forces captured the area.
Dworzak came across the photos at the Photo Shah Shop in Kandahar, where the Taliban would supposedly pay for their pictures to be taken.
The pictures show the fighters with their faces in heavy make-up, and with their fingers interlocked. Under the Taliban regime, two men showing affection to each other and using make-up would have been treated harshly by the Taliban. It is interesting to see that the militant group was not very strict in following its own rules.
The photographer gave the images to the German photographer, Said Kamal, informed him that soldiers would ask him for a ‘flattering portait, secretly taken in the decorated back room of the studio’.
Kamal told Dworzak that he would edit the pictures by adding a glow to the white turbans of the fighters and would sometimes use bright primary colours and images of Swiss Alps as backgrounds.
Even though photography was banned under the rule of the Taliban, some photo studios remained open for the provision of identification cards and passport.
When Dworzak was given the photos, Kamal told him that he was not worried as most of the fighters were dead.