Photography The big picture The big picture: Afghanistan’s largest state school for girls, Herat, 2009 Monika Bulaj’s photograph of Afghan schoolgirls back in class following the fall of the Taliban Herat state school for girls: ‘Even if they graduate, the world outside is still largely defined and controlled by men.’ Photograph: Monika BulajDozens of young girls are hunched over their books, white headscarves glowing in the dim light, chasing an education, maybe one day even a degree and a job. One is standing up, glancing out of shot towards a teacher, or perhaps just caught up in her dreams. It is a triumph of sorts that the girls are back at their desks in a government-run school that educates thousands of pupils. Even if they graduate and find work, it will be in a world still largely defined and controlled by men. War Is Only Half the Story: Ten Years of the Aftermath Project is published by Dewi Lewis Publishing (£35)

Source: The Guardian February 04, 2018 08:00 UTC