In the last two weeks, I’ve begun a new job as the Chair of the Fine Arts Department at UNM-Taos, had a articles published online by APE, the NYT and The New Yorker, edited a new photo series of my own, put together the newest issue of Photographers Quarterly, and got my kids ready for a new school year.
Hell, just writing that sentence gave me a headache, much less living it.
Why am I complaining? As always, there’s a reason. In this case, it’s because I promised a book review this week. Back to normal, I assured you.
Alas…
I hate to be a liar, but in the mad rush to get everything done, I actually forgot to include an artist in last week’s article. Not something I’ve ever done before, but hopefully, given that my current to-do list is as ornery as a drunk barn owl, I’m hoping you’ll forgive me.
And of all the people to forget, I actually omitted the most memorable. I met Gloriann Liu at Review Santa Fe a couple of years ago. She showed me some pictures she’d made of Syrian refugees on the Turkish-Syrian border, as she’d spent significant time in the region, determined to see for herself what was happening.
I was floored for several reasons. To begin with, Ms. Liu had an Asian surname, but was a middle-aged, relatively small, blonde-haired woman. That’s the kind of detail that will stick in your mind. (It’s her husband’s name. Easy answer to that one.)
She also told me that she funds her travel herself. It’s art, for her, as she is so heartbroken and angry at the injustice that exists in the Middle East and Central Asia. As such, she spent much of her own savings making trips over there, reporting, working almost as a one-woman NGO.
And she shook with anger as she discussed what was happening to poor and vulnerable people. Literally, she was seething; physically manifesting her rage at a violent and unpredictable world. I’d never met anyone quite like her.
Most people who set foot over there have grant funding, or work for a major media organization. They have institutional protection of some sort. Gloriann was doing this as a private citizen, an artist whose inner necessity put her squarely in harms way. INCREDIBLE!
Fast forward to RSF ’15, and I reviewed her work, officially. She showed me a portfolio of images she made of Zarghona, a former Afghan child bride, now older, and the family she supports. One son, Barialy, who was injured by rocket-fire during the Afghan Civil War, is featured prominently in the project.
He has to be carried around, and sometimes his mother hires a man to cart him in a wheelbarrow, so that he can accompany her as she begs for money. Shocking stuff.
The only rational explanation for how I forgot to show you these photographs is that I was overwhelmed with life. It happens. But we’re rectifying things by showing Gloriann’s portfolio today, all by itself. The pictures are strong, of course, but also a great reminder that while we sometimes get wrapped up in our own lives…there are people out there who would kill to have our First World Problems.
In early February of 2013 I met Zarghoma. The first time I saw her she was with Barialy, her son, begging in the center of downtown Kabul. In the beginning she was very shy. Najibullah, my guide , Zarif, my driver, and I offered to take her home in old Kabul. It was extremely cold and had been snowing off and on since I arrived several weeks earlier. The car could only get to about a quarter of a mile from her home. Zarghoma had to carry Barialy all of the way through the slush and patches of ice and snow. Their home was small and very cold but had a very cozy atmosphere.Zarghoma, her son, daughter-in-law and their children having tea several days before their home was ruined.Kabul, Afghanistan. Zarghona is visiting her home for the first time since the roof had fallen during a heavy snow storm.Kabul, Afghanistan. Zarghona and part of her family live in an apartment in Shah Shaid. On this day, they are visiting her son and daughter-in-law Carmela and other members of the extended family.Kabul, Afghanistan. Barialy is now eighteen and becoming too heavy for his mother, Zarghona, to carry.Kabul, Afghanistan. A child bride at ten, Zarghona, now fifty, has a large extended family.Zarghona and Ghulam-Faroq, her 92 year old husband.Ghulam-Faroq’s BookstoreZarghona took her son Barialy to a shrine in Kabul. Barialy was injured in The Civil War. There the ritual of “Doing Dam” was performed; verses are read from the Holy Koran and the touching with a knife to a sick or injured person is to take away the injury or illness.Kabul, Afghanistan. Zarghona and family go to the shrine to be healed and to pray.Barialy, injured in a rocket attack during The Civil War, often becomes angry and frustrated being confined in a semi paralyzed body.After a long hard and cold day Zarghona sits warming herself under blankets.Zarghona’s youngest daughter is now accepting suitors. This includes many visits and negotiations between the two couples before they can become engaged.Camilla, one of Zarghona’s daughter-in-laws, Gulali, Malai, daughters and their children are together for a family gathering on Friday afternoon.Fatima, Zarghona’s youngest daughters helps care for Barialy.Gh ullam Farooq, Zarghona’s 93 year old husband, still loves caring for the children.Barialy has be come to heavy for Zarghona to carry. She now hires someone with a wheel-barrel to help her transport him from place to place.Zalmy, Zarghon’s second son and Camila’s husband is moving his family from a cold dark basement room to his brother-in-laws house. Zalmy and Camila had become indentured servants to a wealth man and his second wife. The conditions were deplorable. My guide, Najibullah made the arrangements for them to leave.Camila and her two youngest children arrive at her brother’s house which will be the family’s new home.
Zarghona and Gulali prepare diner for the family while her grandson prays.Zarghona visiting the location of where her home had collapsed. She found out that night that her husband and son had sold the property and had not told her. Now, with an aging husband of ninety-two, an invalid son, one young daughter, and several grandchildren to support, she has no property and has become severely depressed.
In a time when we are constantly bombarded with how photography is divorced from reality, it’s important seeing just how powerful a tool it can be to remind us of it.
I had the distinct pleasure of working with Gloriann Liu during the course of action (over 5-6 years) of a non-profit organization called ReachOut Afghanistan. Our group worked to raise funds and awareness to assist school-aged children throughout Afghanistan at a time when schools were regularly bombed, girls were not allowed to attend school, and children and teachers were caught in the awful violence aimed at all institutions of education.Gloriann traveled to Afghanistan several times each year. She brought back to us a touching, tragic and intimate look into the lives of ordinary citizens of that devastated land and culture. Her photos were (and are) riveting, heart-wrenching and taken with the highest level of skill and professionalism. Her devotion to the people of Afghanistan and all countries where the atrocities that we cannot even conjure up in our minds, happen repeatedly on a daily basis. I continue to admire Gloriann’s amazing efforts and achievements in bringing the world of heartbreak, sorrow, and Herculean inner strength shown by the victims of such cruelty to all of us who sit comfortably at our computers, taking in the breadth of horror, struggle and beauty Gloriann captures so completely.
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In a time when we are constantly bombarded with how photography is divorced from reality, it’s important seeing just how powerful a tool it can be to remind us of it.
I had the distinct pleasure of working with Gloriann Liu during the course of action (over 5-6 years) of a non-profit organization called ReachOut Afghanistan. Our group worked to raise funds and awareness to assist school-aged children throughout Afghanistan at a time when schools were regularly bombed, girls were not allowed to attend school, and children and teachers were caught in the awful violence aimed at all institutions of education.Gloriann traveled to Afghanistan several times each year. She brought back to us a touching, tragic and intimate look into the lives of ordinary citizens of that devastated land and culture. Her photos were (and are) riveting, heart-wrenching and taken with the highest level of skill and professionalism. Her devotion to the people of Afghanistan and all countries where the atrocities that we cannot even conjure up in our minds, happen repeatedly on a daily basis. I continue to admire Gloriann’s amazing efforts and achievements in bringing the world of heartbreak, sorrow, and Herculean inner strength shown by the victims of such cruelty to all of us who sit comfortably at our computers, taking in the breadth of horror, struggle and beauty Gloriann captures so completely.
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