Highland photojournalist highlights hope and resilience in Afghanistan in moving and timely Faces of Kabul exhibition depicting life post-Taliban in 2002
A story of "hope, resilience and optimism" about the future of Afghanistan will be told through photographs at a special exhibition which opened at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, on Thursday.
Faces of Kabul, produced by photojournalist and writer Nick Sidle and supported by, amongst others, Dingwall-based Heartstone, tells the human story of people in the early months of 2002, after the Taliban regime had fallen.
The recent upheaval with the resurgence of that regime and soul-searching over the role of the rest of the world in the past, present and future of the nation, makes the exhibition a timely opportunity to reflect.
Sidle, who is based near Beauly, was given special access at this time to tell a visual story of the world of Afghanistan in the early months after 9/11, which led to the involvement of NATO.
He was embedded with the soldiers of 1 Royal Anglian, who formed the British contingent of ISAF, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, which has a peacekeeping role to support the country in the post-Taliban regime era.
His policy of telling stories honestly as they happen and never staging or manipulating images made him the ideal candidate.
The visually powerful story he brought back was widely acclaimed.
Following the soldiers in their day-to-day role and in contact with the Afghan people, he was able to capture ordinary life for the men, women and children of Afghanistan in a period of intense social change as well as the work of western forces.
It included the rebuilding of homes, de-mining of the landscape and seeing girls go to school for the first time in a number of years.
Last year, Creative Scotland provided funding for Sidle, as the individual artist, to produce a new exhibition, re-visiting this story with the purpose of presenting this in 2021, the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
It opens with New York, to set the scene for what was to happen next, the world of Kabul and surrounding areas and the interface of local people with the soldiers of ISAF.
No-one could have foreseen the historic events which have just unfolded in Afghanistan, making the exhibition even more timely and relevant.
His story, beyond the politics and conflict, highlights the lives of ordinary people – lives, say organisers of the exhibition "not that dissimilar from our own".
The moving story allows the viewer to see a world they have glimpsed through media coverage "with new eyes".
Sitakumari, director of Heartstone, said: "It is about seeing people, not prejudice but in this case, Faces of Kabul has a further purpose, reminding us all of the events from which it all started 20 years ago, the sadness, tragedies and loss but also the hopes and dreams that were there at that time, allowing us, through the power of photojournalism, to step into the shoes of people who we may perceive as so different from ourselves, but in fact to come to the understanding that they are not."
Dingwall-based MSP Kate Forbes, Black Isle councillor Gordon Adam and High Life Highland chief executive Steve Walsh, are speaking ahead of the opening.
Special guests include Jon Heap, the Commanding Officer of C Company in 2002 where Sidle was embedded, joining by videocall from Australia, and Warrant Officer Hazel Lowe, a corporal at the time.
Both are featured in the exhibition and will speak about their part in the story.
Faces of Kabul will be shown for three weeks.
