Hidden Lives: The Women of Kandahar


  • Photographer
    Paula Lerner
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Paula Lerner Photography
  • Date of Photograph
    March, 2009
  • Technical Info
    Digital images

To Westerners, the lives of most Afghan women are shrouded in mystery. Beginning at puberty, many live sequestered behind the high walls of their compounds, seldom permitted to venture forth again. For women in Kandahar, capital of southern Afghanistan and the Taliban homeland, little has changed since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Nevertheless, within the confines of their world the women of Kandahar live emotionally rich lives. As the Taliban insurgency continues, the West must more fully understand the culture from which it springs. This work aims to promote greater understanding of a culture that baffles the West.

Story

To Westerners, the lives of most Afghan women are shrouded in mystery. Beginning at puberty, many live sequestered behind the high walls of their compounds, seldom permitted to venture forth again. Women in Kandahar, capital city of southern Afghanistan and the historical nucleus of the Taliban homeland, face particularly harsh conditions. For these women little has changed since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

What life is like behind the doors of the women’s quarters is virtually unknown in the West. It may be hard for outsiders to imagine, but within the confines of their world the women of Kandahar nonetheless live emotionally rich lives. Sometimes inspiring, sometimes tragic, their stories offer a rare window onto a world previously unseen by western audiences. As a renewed Taliban insurgency threatens the prospects for peace in the region, it is imperative for the West to more fully understand the culture from which it springs. The stakes are high, both for the people of Afghanistan and the West.

These images are from an ongoing body of work about the daily lives of women in Kandahar. My goal is to promote much-needed understanding of a culture that has often been baffling to the West. By portraying a group of women heretofore unseen, I hope to enable viewers to connect with the women profiled in a personal and humanizing way, to put a human face on those who were previously invisible, and offer a voice where there has been only silence.

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