Tomas Munita, Kabul - Out of shadows / Oskar Barnack Award 2006

Tomas Munita

Kabul - Out of shadows / Oskar Barnack Award 2006

II gallery floor, 06.10.06 - 04.11.06

The Chilean photojournalist – winner of the prestigious Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2006 – has photographed Kabul. The city – destroyed by long drawn wars – slowly rebuilds its ruined houses, children start to play on streets, one can notice some colorful details, people have fun. Years of Taliban regime have scarred the historical city. Music was banned, as well as western – style clothes and games. Even  balloons.

 Restrictive regulations were canceled, but a huge scar in human minds cicatrizes very slowly. It’s not easy to regain joy when one is surrounded by ruins and the ghost of violence is still present. Tomas Munita suggests that not everything is as colorful as it seems when looking at his pictures. On one of them a hand grabbing a handful of kalashnikov shells. On another a  one leg shepherd walking with one sheep. However there is a new light. Faces are lit with faint smiles. Kabul emerges out of shadow.

 The photographs of the reporter, who was born in Santiago de Chile in 1975, show peaceful and joyful moments of a gradually emerging normality rather than the violence and poverty one might expect. In comparison, the ruins, war damage or remains of ammunition in some of the pictures seem to be of minor importance although  they form a strong contrast that is not only visual. In failing daylight or the semi – darkness of interiors, light and shade fight for predominance and give the colors in the photos a special intensity. Both contrasts of the interplay of light and shade – metaphorical and actual make the photos particularly accurate description of the relationship of man and his environment, which is  the subject of the competition held by Leica Camera Group as part of its cultural program. The report is a result of Munita’s long – term work as a press photographer for The Associated Press news agency in Afghanistan.