Brady Fotheringham Contributing Writer THE ethics of journai- ism is something that is talked about in academ- ic circles, bantered around journalism school seminars and practised tu varying degrees in newsrooms. The public’s mistrust of the media has accelerated at a vociferous pace partly because the media are seen to be hem- orrhaging ethics. My visit to Afghanistan in 1997 made me confront for the first time the issue of pho- tographing Muslim women in an extremely hostile country. The Muslim faith prohibits pho- tographing women because it captures the soul. Was I contribut- ing to the ethical malaise in journalism by throwing all other cancerns out the window? I was in Kabul, Afghanistan to write about the fundamentalist Taliban rebels and the Islamic holy war that was sweeping that country. I had come to sec a remote desolate place that not many people have access to. I was very much the foreigner in a land where kidnapping and extortion was a reality — 75 people were dying each day from landmines. T had been to other Muslim countries before — namely Morocco — and had just come from Pakistan. Taking photos in those more liberalized Muslim nations was different than doing the same in Afgharistan. I could get shot for taking the wrong icture by the Taliban. A Belgian photographer got his face ashed in with the butc of an AK-47 Kalashnikov for taking unwanted pictures in 1996. Through my travels in Central Asia I became familiar with the nuances of tribal Jife and their fear of strangers. I had dealt with people who had never seen a Westerner before and have always been intensely curious, willing to go anywhere to get and see what I want. The prospect of venturing into a foreign cul- ture, with exotic dialects, Third World sanitation facilities and a civil war only inspired me more. Should I respect the Islamic faith and not photograph women or was it just a matter of getting away with a photo? I he hip ae NEWS photos Brady Fu..ringham ON the way to market in the rural northern Pakistani town of Giigit, Muslim women wearing burquah veils blend in with the hustle and bustle of street ‘ife. had already been put in jail in Morocco for climbing the walls of a military barracks and photographing a division of tanks. 1 would be arrested one more me dunng this tip on my return to Pakistan, but learned how to conceal film and mollify authori- ties. I wasn’t, however, willing to practise my luck in Afghanistan. They shoot United Nations workers here. | was very low on the totem pole of priorities for the Taliban. I wasn’t naive. Nine months earlier I had gone to great efforts to get a media visa from the Afghan embassy in New York and had to get further paperwork in Peshawar, Pakistan — the main city on the Afghan border. The embassy had required me to write a letter acknowledging the risks of dying in Afghanistan in order to get a visa. No tourist visa had been issued since 1979. A few years fighting the Soviets and now the internal Mustim jihad (holy war) had put an end to that. I was not a tourist. [ was a traveller writing about my jour- neys. I carried my camera along with a notebook, film and paperwork in a pouch in my undershirt. I had gone native three months earlier, growing a beard and dressing in the local cotton shalwar qamiz robes. I had made a considerable investment in * getting into this country and didn’t want to be turned back. My initial chances of getting into Afghanistan were pretty slim given the fact that lids with machine guns make the deci- See Ethics Page 27 Friday, July 23, 1999 ~ North Shore News — 15 Afghanistan Images from beyond the veil ® The photos of Kani of Hunza and her daughter-in-law Saadia were taken ‘1 Karimabad, an idvllic littl mountain vil- lage in northern Pakistan where the Muslim people (particu- larly women) are a bit shy of Westerners and of having their photos taken, but these two are basicaily “royalty” given their positions of power in northern Pakistani culture and politics. It took three days of setting up a meeting to interview and photograph them. Rani’s husband is the mir which basically means king, hence she is a queen. They both are involved in arranging marriages and settling local disputes over land, etc. They live in a big castle with servants and CNN but more importantly they are both originally from southern Pakistan which is more educated an? modern and the women will sometimes wear western dress (jeans, etc.). @ I took pictures of the private school girls by handing out Canadian stickers, pens and pencils —and with a lot of patience. The kids are eas- ier to take pictures of but they are less patient with Westerners. More impor- tantly it is considered OK to take pics of Mustim women if they are gener- ally under the age of 10 or 12. The adults are a more tricky subject. The women in the strect in Gilgit, Pakistan walking towards the market with shawls or burquah veils over their heads was taken without their knowledge and from further away: but not from the hip. [had a zoom lens. . The shot of the two women in Kabul, Afghanistan was taken from the hip where you can just see their backs. In. this case my main concern was not whether the womea could sce me, but whether if some of the Taliban who roam the strects with guns would arrest me and confiscate my camera or some- thing even worse. My Pakistani interpreter warned me against taking pics of women but I didn’t want to pass up the chance. @ The two street kids were taken out of a bus window as I was getting ready to leave Afghanistan for Pakistan. Again - because they were kids they weren’s shy about their photus being taken and I had considerably more freedom. NEVER shy of the camera, Afghan girls laugh it up. Each week, when you rent ai our newest BLOCKBUSTER location you could win the following fabulous prizes! July 25th - 30th August 7th - 13th 27” Sony Television August 14th - 20th Sony Hit oe Pick up your calendar of events in-store fo «list of the month long celebration events! moth SIGH UP FOR>™ BLOCKBUSTER REWARDS — FORE AUGUST 3RD AND GET“ é 1905 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. Ph: 987-1800