12/20/14 12/20/14

The Last Rocker of Mazar

Miles Davis and a smelly bukhari (Afghan fuel heater) are warming up my mood and room. Earlier in the afternoon, I got the very stupid idea of looking at readers's comments on a Swiss newspaper's website. Reading so many bitter people expressing their frustration on any single subject they could, without even knowing what they are talking about, raised a few questions in my mind. Is bashing everyone and everything around them making them feel better? Why are they considering themselves as "being a 100% Swiss" and why would it matter? "Hell is other people" wrote Sartre...But who cares... I finally got the chance to take a portrait I was initially supposed to take a year ago :-)

*20 December 2014: Curzio, Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan.*

12/12/14 12/12/14

Redefining Priorities

After more than a year in the field with a technically limited camera (poor or no AF, limited ISO, poor ergonomic), I bought last Summer a Fuji X-T1 with two lenses. It is not the first time that I'm trying to have a smaller camera, easier to carry than my usual Canon 5D and lenses (filing a backpack on their own). I bought a few compact cameras in the past but never really felt confortable with them and finally always preferred to work with my Canon. However, 18 months ago, the security situation in the places where I was working and the difficulty to travel with that heavy backpack forced me to change my plans and to use for some time a camera, limited to max 800 or 1600 ISO, with a pathetic AF system but great picture quality.While it restricted the number or kind of shots I could take (e.g. low light portrait), it surprisingly also improved my way of shooting. It forced me to better prepare my shoots, to care less about sharpness and more about content. And because I did not have enough shutter speed at low light, I was then forced to improve my slow shutter speed skills, learning something new.Since I bought a Fuji X-T1, I received several times the same questions "Is it better than Canon?" "Don't you miss a full frame sensor"? No, it is not as good as Canon (slower auto-focus, less ergonomic). But I can carry it with me more easily and adapt my pictures to its limitation. Like too many before me, I certainly wasted way too much time in the past focusing on equipment or picture's sharpness, rather than trying to improve my pictures and my eye.I had the pleasure to talk lately with another enthusiastic photographer about camera, photography in general and how photography coule make us become more attentive of things around us. A particular light, some expressions or any small details, making our life a bit different. And that's certainly what matters to me. Photographing those instants, those details that I like; or capturing some faces or moments I would like to keep for me.Maybe my camera can not shoot all the things another one could (e.g. challenging sport shots). But at least, I can have it with me in any bag and take the kind of shots I really like.

*21 November 2014: A bread vendor during a buzkashi match in Mazar-e-Sharif, Northern Afghanistan*

11/22/14 11/22/14

Back on his Feet

Taking pictures during an official visit has never been my favorite activities in photography. The usual same handshaking, the same discussion, the same attitudes and the same problems to manage (remain discrete, try to fit as many VIP as possible in the frame, avoid people looking at me, etc...). Not unpleasant, but usually not the most exciting neither. Except when side moments give you some interesting opportunities...

*22 November 2014: A young patient at the* *ICRC orthocenter* *in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan*

For my first weekend in months without setting a foot in my office, it actually feels weird, but nice, to end up processing two big batches of pictures again.

11/21/14 11/21/14

Buzkashi

With the cold making a comeback in Afghanistan, the new Buzkashi season started 2 weeks ago in Mazar-e-Sharif. Rather brutal (more than during my last visit), it remains an incredible experience.After almost a year in Afghanistan, I sometimes still find difficult to realize that I am really working and living here. I still remember reading the book "The Photographer" and being fascinated by the pictures of the late Didier Lefèvre. This country was supposed to stay in my imagination, a fantasy in my traveler's mind. Realizing that I went today to a Buszkashi match, like others go to a cinema, is just an additional reminder of how my life has changed. For the better and for the rest... :-)

*21 November 2014: An Afghan rider during Buzkashi match in Mazar-e-Sharif, Northern Afghanistan*

1/18/14 1/18/14

The Proof is in the Carpet

- Do you mind if I take a picture of you?

- Could you take one step back?

- Just look at me.

- Thanks. Tashakur!

*18 January 2014: Mr. Rohullah, (proud) carpet seller in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan*

1/14/14 1/14/14

Goodbye my friend...

2013 started with champaigne in Cameroun, following an evacuation from CAR and finished in Afghanistan, talking around a shisha. Summarizing it faithfully would be impossible, except maybe with these 3 words: What A Year!!

I wish you all a fantastic year 2014, full of great surprises, happiness, stability and lots of fun. Please take care of yourself and keep saving the world, however you can ;-)