Burkas

While on safari in the Masai Mara, there was a photo I desperately wanted to capture. From afar you could see the herd of zebras on the plains. Every single time we would approach them with the hope of getting the shot, they would turn and only show their back side to us. As elusive as the head-on photo of a zebra in Africa, so to is the photo of the uncovered faces of Afghan women who wear burkas. At one of our clinics, burka clothed women would line up and wait to be seen. While they chatted between themselves waiting, the burka would be retracted. I thought to myself, here’s my chance for the photo I wanted. Without any cover to hide behind, I walked around a corner with my camera ready to shoot. In the time it takes to raise my camera, the women who were once exposed pulled they cover over their faces and the moment was gone.