Surface

Underneath its meaning as a representation of the world, an image is a set of lines and shades; a bi-dimensional system of marks with its own expressive power. Playing with the shades and the lines of the rocky landscape of Afghanistan I produced this series of photographs originating from a simple act of enjoinment: the interaction between the landscapes and my frame. I discovered these images at the beginning or at the end of few photographic stories. They were taken before or after being in a place to photograph and they were destined to be set aside since they are not directly part the story. But I became fond of these visions and I start growing the idea of collecting them and their meaning grew on me. In some way they hold a sense of an untold story, a depiction of the moment before the action starts. Afghanistan appears like a living being, an old rugged-skin elephant. It looks mysterious, obscure and dangerous but if we go closer nothing is there other than dust, stones and some far away mud-houses. Since my entire research as a photographer revolves around the representation of humanity, it was a significant decision to choose a set of images devoid of human figures. It was a search for purity and simplicity, an exploration of other layers of meaning, but also a statement about the difficulties of telling the story of this country and this war. Afghanistan is often present in the media but its story and its geopolitical position is still resilient to be told in all its complexities. Even after working in the country for many years there is sometimes the impression that what we can see is only the surface of the whole story, that the country is slowly becoming an abstraction in our imaginations and the landscape is dissolving in a set of shades.