In 1985, Reza Deghati challenged Afghan warlord Ahmad Shah Massoud to a game of chess, and started a friendship that has lasted more than 15 years. "He plays chess like he fights the Taliban," the Iranian-born photographer says, "trying to psychologically defeat you." Last December, Reza, who has spent a total of three years in the war-torn country, was reunited with Massoud for a story he and author Sebastian Junger did for National Geographic Adventure [March/April 2001 issue]. The photographs displayed reflect this last trip into Afghanistan as well as his previous visits. Reza lives in France and is now working on a National Geographic magazine article about religions of the Middle East.




Afghanistan lies at the crossroads of Central Asia and has been invaded numerous times but never conquered. In 1979, the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan with an estimated 100,000 soldiers, only to be driven out by the Mujahadeen after 10 years of bloody guerilla war.

In the chaos following the Soviet withdrawal, a civil war broke out among the various Mujahadeen factions, culminating in the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 1996.

Controlled by Pakistan and driven by an ultra-fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law, the Taliban have gained worldwide notoriety for their harsh suppression of women and, most recently, their destruction of 5th-century Buddhist statues in the province of Bamyan.

Ahmad Shah Massoud, the backbone of the Afghan resistance against the Soviets, has been locked in a war with the Taliban for the past five years. He represents the last hope of the recognized government of Afghanistan, which has been relocated from Kabul to the city of Fayzabad in the northeast corner of the country.

 

LONGING BY GREG DWYER
CORN BY GREGORY THORP
CAKE & HOTDOGS and WILD WEEKEND WOMEN BY ANDREANNA LYNN SEYMORE
ATHLETES BY SCOTT McDERMOTT
HAVANA PASSAGE BY TARA SGROI
ALLEGIANCE BY STEVE SIMON
ABOVE AND BELOW THE PAVEMENT BY SERGE J-F LEVY
SOHO BLUES BY ALLAN TANNENBAUM
THE FEDERATION OF BLACK COWBOYS BY TOBIN RUSSELL
AFGHANISTAN 2001 BY TEUN VOETEN
FAMILY, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS BY OISTIN MAC BRIDE
THE EGYPT PROJECT BY DAVID KATZENSTEIN
MYANMAR BY JOEL RUBIN
INDIA AND THE MAHA KUMBH MELA BY MIKE TAUBER
AFGHANISTAN BY REZA DEGHATI

For further information on these exhibits, please contact exhibits@thehalfking.com.