ANDREW QUILTY, AUSTRALIA
AFGHANISTAN: BISMILLAH’S SENSE OF SNOW
Far, far away from what we call the “alpine skiing circus”, there are some downhill and slalom specialists for whom their planks might not mean the world. But which nevertheless grant them access to a kind of winter fun that is not exactly a mass phenomenon in Afghanistan. It was two members of an aid organization who in 2009 brought their skis to the Au Bala village in the remote Fuladi valley. And they obviously made quite an impression.

© Andrew Quilty, Australia (Agence VU)
When Australian photographer Andrew Quilty visited Au Bala eight years later, he met Bismillah, Aliqullah, Baz Mohammed and other boys who showed him their self-made skis: roughly hewn planks to which the boys attached ski bindings made of plastic and nylon strips. It is improbable, though, that the region, once famous for its Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, will become a mecca for experts from the skiing industry.
Quilty, one-time winner of the World Press Photo Award in the sports category, was highly impressed and thus very happy when the village elders allowed him to use the lobby of their mosque as a photo studio. Born in 1983, he works for Agence Vu in Paris, has won numerous photography awards and, following stops in Sydney and New York, now lives in Kabul.
Curriculum Vitae: Andrew Quilty (Agence VU)

© James Brickwood