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!

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.

Tiltshifting

So... I did not get that tilshift lens I wanted for Christmas... No problem!!!
This awesome website called tilshiftmaker creates awesome tilshift-look-alike images for you. It is so easy and the pictures come out great! Now - don't get me wrong... The tilshift lens is still on the list of things I wish I owned!
   I feel a little bit like it is cheating... But who cares??? It looks so cute!

Good Bye Kabul

I left Afghanistan a few days ago. Suitcase full of shots - so I am pretty happy. I always feel I could have done more - this time is no exception - But I am happy and content - and feel that my experience living in Kabul the last 4 years has helped me in many ways there. Who knows... Maybe it has also hindered me - as you probably won't find me walking around the streets finding that perfect shot... I know better! I know how dangerous it can be there and I know not to get carried away.
I know I am missing out on great photo opportunities but I hope I can get the best of both worlds and still make good photos.

I spent a few days in Dubai.. Met up with some old friends & mainly tried to clean up after Kabul. A lot can be said about Dubai - but it is the perfect place to pamper yourself after some time in Afghanistan!

The flight to Dubai from Kabul easily get into my top 5 of miserable flights (and I have had MY share of horrible airplane related experiences). Because of Xmas and over bookings and a lot of other events I should have foreseen - I ended up flying on Safi Airlines out of there.   I don't know how many extra rows of seats they put on that airplane, but it must have been quite a few as there was NO way what-so-ever my legs would fit in my little space.  It probably didn't help that I was in the very very back of the plane (the last seat before the bathroom) which ment no possibility for me to lean my seat back - while the guy in front of me had his seat permanently pressed into my knees.

As usual I sat there with my camera in my sweaty palms ready to crash and die... Here is what it looked like flying into Dubai on one of the only days of the year were it actually rained in Dubai.
Now I am back in Denmark for a few days... Enjoying Mom and Dad's X-mas food - and walks around this little town that I grew up in... It is amazing how everything looks the same... and at the same time - things are so different. There is only one shop left in town... The Grocery store! When I was a kid...

Anyways - This is a picture that ewokes many emotions in me. The amount of time I have spent here... waiting for trains, friends, boys and sometimes just for time to pass...

Shooting in a SandBox!

When I bought my beloved Canon Mark III this summer - one of my main reasons for buying exactly THAT camera was the 'dust-proof' seal! I knew I was going back to Afghanistan to take pictures - and that dust proof would be the way to go...
Now, I do understand that dust proof is ONLY when the lens is actually attached to the camera and stays that way (And yes! I do have the super-duper 'dust-proof' lenses with the rubber seal (I believe they are called the L-series)).
I try very hard to not change my lenses outside here - and I clean my sensor all the time... And with all the time - I mean daily! I have the sensor scope (that I must admit I have learned to love) - and I am so so so careful... and yet - This is what I have to deal with.
This day started out with a clean sensor... after about 2 hours of shooting and no lens change... This is the result:

(obviously the white rings are NOT the dust spots... that just shows where the dust-spots where before I removed them in LightRoom.)

I have 200 pictures due for a client on Tuesday... I am a mean dust removing machine...

...makes me wonder

This is what is playing in the Movie Theaters in Kabul these days...
Looking at the first picture - you just gotta wonder...

WTF?

I love the expression  on this mans face.... WTF???

Eid Mubarak

Eid al-Adha occurs the day after the pilgrims conduct the Hajj

On this day Muslims all over the world  - who have the means to, sacrifice an animal (usually a goat or a sheep), as a reminder of Ibrahim's obedience to God. The meat is then shared out with family, friends (Muslims or non-Muslims), as well as the poor members of the community. .

I watched the sacrificing of a cow today as you can see in this gallery.
If you are vegetarian for political reasons - or just don't like blood in general, you probably shouldn't watch this!

Something to learn from

I remember a class at RMSP with Alison Leach. She was showing us 'behind the scenes photos' and she pointed out how the photographers and their assistants were wearing black!
I made a note in my notebook - but forgot to make a mental note - here is the result.

Yesterday when I went to photograph at the Kings old Palace I was wearing a very red and very white jacket .... with a very green scarf!

You can clearly see me AND the Palace in the background.

Maybe that will teach me!

The Bakery

I have always been curious about the Afghan Bakeries.
Having lived in Kabul for 4 years I have had my share of Naan over the years, but I have always wondered how exactly they make it - and why - when you drive by at night - there are always people sleeping in there in the winter...

As they say;Curiosity killed the cat, so the other day I went inside one of the local Kabuli bakeries - to check out how it works. Here is a little series about The Afghan Bakery.