Gulbuddin Elham will document the minority Sikh and Hindu communities living in Afghanistan. Elham aims to address the harassment these two non-Muslim groups face by portraying their experiences in accessing social services and practicing their respective religions.
During the Mujahideen rule, Elham was the chief photographer for Kabul Weekly, Afghanistan’s first independent newspaper established by Ahmad Shah Massoud. When the Taliban took power, Elham was forced to flee his country and become a refugee, first in Iran and then in Pakistan. When the Taliban fell, he returned to Kabul and spent three years studying at Aina Photojournalism Institute under renowned photographers Reza and Manoocher Deghati. He also resumed his role at Kabul Weekly, documenting stories about everything from the country’s first presidential election to the daily lives and struggles of Afghan citizens. Elham’s work has been published in Harvard’s Niemen Reports, the New York Times, and Reuters. Since 2008, he has been providing photojournalism training courses to aspiring photographers in Afghanistan.