Mie Ahmt Photography

Kabul Airport 2007

There was a time in a different life were I spent an unreasonable amount of time in Kabul Airport. To be fair - these pictures are taken before the renovation. Unfortunately I don't have any 'after' pictures of this place. Hopefully later this year - I will be able to provide you with pictures from the brand new terminal.

It was in the airport I learned a lot of my Afghan tricks - I learned what an extra dollar or a lip balm for the body-check lady could do. I also learned to quickly hide from the policeman who suggested that I come to his house to "first eat - then sleep!!!" - and I learned that patience with a pinch of bitchiness was the best way to get through without losing my sanity (which in most cases you already lost before leaving...)

 

  
Oh! And I a quickly learned to ALWAYS bring my own toilet paper and hand sanitizer - that's the kinda mistake you only make once!

10 cents to go to the doctor

Statistics from an Afghan Clinic:
 

 

Putting the pictures of the Afghan Doctor and that little 3 day old girl on my blog made me think a little about the fact that so many people don't realize the amount of work being done in Afghanistan and the amount of work that still needs to be done.

The picture above shows the statistics of this particular clinic - build by USAID in Afghanistan.1387 is the year - and that pretty much means 2008 - except that the Muslim calendar year is a bit different. The doctor told me that they charge 5 Afghanis from each patient who comes in to be treated - and that many people in this village have serious problems finding the 5 Afghanis it will cost them to go to the doctor. 

5 afghanis is 10 Cents!!!

Looking at the statistics from this new clinic you realize how much they must have needed a clinic here.. The last month of the chart shows that they had 440 more patients than they had capacity for.

Development and reconstruction are so many things... I believe in seeing things with your own eyes but I am also realistic and know that that isnt always possible -  therefore I photograph...

Smiling in a War Zone

Last night I watched Smiling in a War Zone about a FANTASTIC woman's mission to fly to Kabul to Kabul in a super old tiny airplane - just so she could give an Afghan girl who wanted to be a pilot a trip in her airplane..! I had heard the story about her many times - she is sort of a legend in Kabul. Seeing the movie brought tears to my eyes - simply because it made me happy to see someone doing something they believe so much in - with so much passion...

"Danish artist Simone Aaberg Kærn reads in a newspaper about a teenage girl from Afghanistan whose dream is to become a pilot. Being a pilot herself Simone identifies with the girl and decides to make her dream come true. She buys a plane -- although the most expensive one she can afford is a forty year old Piper-Colt -- and begins the six thousand kilometer journey to Kabul. When she finally arrives at the border of Afghanistan the US military refuses her entry, but Simone is not willing to give up her fight for the freedom of the skies"

I think one of the reasons this movie (and this project in parts) succeed is because of the somewhat naiive and very Danish approach to a country like Afghanistan. Sometimes I wish I could go back as the photographer I am today and see Kabul the way I saw it the first day I landed there in 2004...

3 days old

I met this woman with her 3 day old grand daughter at a clinic in The North Eastern part of Afghanistan in December last year.. The woman in the picture - the grand mother told me that the mother of the girl was 'very sick' after giving birth. The black around the baby's eyes is supposed to improve her vision - according to the very young, afghan translator I had with me... So much is lost in translation and I was kinda bummed when he barged into the room where I was sitting with all the women - trying to bond and communicate... As soon as he walked in - the burkas were back on and the photo session was over!

Some times I wonder how that little girl is doing today... she should be about 8 months old now...

 

 

The woman in the picture below is a doctor. For me she represents everything hopeful for Afghanistan!

 

The picture of her is a reminder to me of being grateful for everything I - as a Danish Citizen - has been served on a silver platter all my life; Education & Health Care - just to mention a few things.. It will never make sense to me that those two things are not a human right... In some countries owning a car seems like a human right... 

No matter how you slice it... This woman ROCKS!

In Edit Mode

I am in the process of having a new logo designed - redo my website and all that good stuff. That means I am editing a bunch of pictures to put up once I am done deciding what I want to do. My current website mieahmtphotography.com is good - I like it - but I would like it to do a bit more... I am with Livebooks at the moment  and considering if I want to upgrade or totally change to another provider. I like that Livebooks is so easy to use - it looks good - and it works! I know lots of people who use Livebooks  - and there is really nothing wrong with it - other than the price.
If you read this and have any suggestions for me I will be happy to hear them.

Meanwhile here are some of my recent edits from Afghanistan.

Garbage Galore and The Story of Stuff

Last weekend I was back in Missoula Montana to talk a bit about my project 'Garbage Galore'. It is currently showing at Zoo Town Brew in Missoula. Garbage Galore is an ongoing project I am doing about garbage - food waste to be more specific. I am deeply fascinated by the amount of food we waste. So one August morning last year I decided to do some dumpster diving at the apartment building I was living in in Missoula. It was quite shocking what I found, tomatoes, juices, ice cream, left overs, bananas, lettuce still wrapped in the plastic it came in from the grocery store. I arranged it all on plates - washed it, cut it - made it look good - and photographed it. Did you know that in America 27% of all food produced for consumption goes straight to to waste? I repeated the procedure when I was in Kabul in December - and the difference in what I was able to find in the garbage tells the story! In Missoula I spent half a morning doing this... In Kabul it took several days and I had to go to several different garbage piles in the City to get enough food waste to make my plates up.

That night in Missoula at Zoo Town Brew they also showed this movie - The Story of Stuff. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. I would definitely say it is worth taking 20 minutes out of your life to watch this movie.

Garbage Galore Showing in Missoula, Montana

My show Garbage Galore is now showing at Zoo Brew in Missoula, Montana.
There is an article about the project in the Missoulian Today! YAy!

Made me cry...

This photo feature was the Pulitzer price winner for feature photography in 2006. The photography is by photographer Todd Heisler and it's written by freelance journalist Jim Sheeler. It is an amazing feature! They spent a year following Maj. Steve Beck as he takes on the most difficult duty of his career: casualty notification. The photographs speak for themselves - so do the words! But together this is a unique feature.
The photo bellow I found especially heartbreaking.
"The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of "Cat," and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted." (From The Final Salute Gallery)

I have a very personal view on the war in Afghanistan after having lived there for more than 4 years... I admire this feature!

Just bought...

I just bought this book at Amazon for $6. First of all I can't beleive you can actually buy a book for $6. How is that possible... never mind the fact that it is a photo book!!!

Armed America is a photo book by photographer kyle Cassidy. Kyle Cassidy traveled all over America over 2 years photographing gun owners in their houses - asking them one question; "Why do you own a gun?".

Just the thought of this project sends chills down my spine. I don't understand at all why you would want to own one or keep one at your house. I lived in Afghanistan for over 4 years and I never had a gun. I will and do use armed guards if required... The concept of guns just make very little sense to me...

I am exited to see the book... I really really like the idea of this project! Hurry up mister postman!!!

Working on...

I just got two cute, 6 weeks old puppies... So I am working on potty training!
But what I am really working on is finalizing pictures for a show in Missoula, Montana next month. Here is a sneak peak of the Afghan version of Garbage Galore.
The short introduction to this is that I am exploring waste! Especially food waste... Food we all throw out every day that is perfectly fine! More than 25% of food produced in America - goes directly yo trash... When you start to look in to this you realize this insanity... I am trying to display it - and still let people come to this conclusion by themselves!
I will tell you more about this once I am ready to launch... First Friday in Missoula is coming up fast... I am so exited.

So here is some of the stuff I found in the Trash in Afghanistan.