Afghan Notes: Jason Florio, August 2000

Afghan Notes – Three Hazara girls in full burqa. The picture of the cat hung on the wall behind them is considered illegal. Kabul, Afghanistan, 01/08/2000. Image ©Jason Florio

Afghan Notes

Afghan Notes – Jason Florio, August 2000: The Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us on arrival to Kabul that we could take pictures of anything as long as it’s not a living being – all images of humans and animals had been outlawed by them. Later that day we headed into an area of Kabul, home to the Hazara ethnic group, who were particularly persecuted by the Taliban. Next to a mortared mosque, a Hazara man tried to sell us a 1970’s travel guide to Afghanistan with stained pages and a broken spine for $20, but after we declined he invited us into his home. His three young sisters came to join us and Brazilian journalist, Pepe Escobar, and Pakastani journalist, Khawar Rizvi, made an interview with them while I made photographs. The irony and symbolism of the broken clock and the (outlawed) poster of innocent fluffy kittens were not lost on us. The next day we were arrested by the feared Vice and Virtue police for taking pictures of a football match… read/see more images on Jason Florio’s blog

@jasonflorio – Instagram

Photography | Filmmaking | Production

Current location: The Gambia, West Africa

For assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here

The Gambia – And, the rains came down, and down, and down…

@floriophotos – footage ©Helen Jones-Florio

Photography Daily Show Podcast – talking Instagram, and Gambia Doors

Huge thanks to Neale James at Photography Daily Show Podcast, for inviting me to talk about using Instagram for my Gambia and Malta doors and storefronts series.

Podcast #251 INSTAGRAM: LOVE, HATE, NEED, WANT and and and…

Listen to the Podcast

Serigne Touba Doors, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa architecture © Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – Serigne Touba Doors, Banjul, The Gambia © Helen Jones-Florio

@doors_helenjonesflorio

I adore the project…probably because it’s exactly the one I would have loved to have started myself. Neale Jame-Photography Daily Show

#DisappearingMalta – ‘Universal Store’, Valletta, Malta – photography prints by Helen Jones-Florio

Buy #GambiaDoors & #DisappearingMalta Photography Prints from helenjonesflorio online gallery

Helen Jones-Florio

Photography | Videography | Production 

#GambiaDoors & #DisappearingMalta

Gambia Doors – the series. Photography by Helen Jones-Florio

Gambia Doors – the (ongoing) series. Photography by Helen Jones-Florio. Prints available to purchase at helenjonesflorio.com online gallery.

I have been working on this particular series – #GambiaDoors – for many years. The vividly coloured, unintentionally quirky doors and storefronts from the West African country of The Gambia never fail to grab my attention. My husband, Florio, is now well-versed in my random, oft-shouted, ‘Stop!’ in his ear while we are zooming around on the motorcycle. In fact, he now engages in a little door spotting on my behalf. Conversely, over the years, I have also managed to startle several unsuspecting local taxi drivers.

#GambiaDoors - the closed frontage of a tailor shop with a pile of remnant fabric, and an old toilet, Bakau, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘The Tailoring Shop’, Bakau, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio

“But why do you want to photo my shop?”

“But why do you want to photo my shop?”, is the question most frequently asked of me from baffled shopkeepers. After 20 plus years of living and working in the region, what may be considered quotidian to many of those shopkeepers, continues to be striking and wondrous to me. Enough to ‘stop!’ me in my tracks (or put the breaks on). 

#GambiaDoors: Doors and Storefronts of The Gambia, West Africa - barber shop storefront showing hand-painted hairstyles. Image © Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors: ‘The Standard Barber Shop Hair Stilist’, Serrekunda. Image © Helen Jones-Florio

Something is captivating about the misspelled, hand-painted, English-as-we-don’t-know-it, signage – the vivid and the faded paintwork, alike. Barbershops and beauty salons signs are a particular favourite. Ultimately, they make me smile.

#GambiaDoors - hand-painted beauty salon,'Juste Nails Bash' beauty shop, Serekunda, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Juste Nails Bash‘ beauty shop, Serekunda, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio

#GambiaDoors

#GambiaDoors - blue metal doors of a workshop, with hand painted telephone numbers, and an old car seat standing outside the closed doors, Bakau, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Workshop Tea Break’, Bakau, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio

@doors_helenjonesflorio

All of the #GambiaDoors images are available to purchase as photography prints, from our online gallery

helenjonesflorio.com online gallery

#GambiaDoors - the front of a shipping container, hand painted with faces, and the words'Black Light, Tanji, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Black Light’, Tanji, The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio

Contact the Gallery

#GambiaDoors - a brightly coloured curtain blows in the doorway of a local bar, a Becks beer sign above the door, painted red with Coca Cola written on the wall, Banjul, The Gambia ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors -‘Come Inn’, local bar in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. Image ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors - the shop front of a local beauty salon in Serrekunda, The Gambia ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Classic Beauty Salon’, Serrekunda, The Gambia ©Helen Jones-Florio

See more of the series @doors_helenjonesflorio and the helenjonesflorio.com gallery site.

Feel free to contact me here if you have any questions, or use the Contact Form on the gallery website.

Helen Jones-Florio

#GambiaDoors & #DisappearingMalta

Helen Jones-Florio, sitting on the doorstep of an abandoned house, Malta. Image by Jason Florio
Photographer/Videographer, Helen Jones-Florio, Birkirkara, Malta (#DisappearingMalta doors & storefronts). Image by Jason Florio