Ilkka Uimonen: Faces of Afghanistan
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Ilkka Uimonen: Faces of Afghanistan

Shaft of Light
Valley of Kohi Birjn, 1998

Inside one home I found two girls with their grandmother. Heads bowed and eyes averted, they hovered in their dark house with no furniture, just mats spread on the floor. Women must conform with Sharia, the ancient Islamic social and penal code that mandates purdah—seclusion from public observation.