Story Behind The Image – Herat, Afghanistan

Some images are given more impact by someone else doing something you never anticipated. Down a side alley in Herat I came across a group of children playing with a ball. I framed this young girl who just stood there completely unfazed, smiled at me and I raised my camera and she just stood as she is in the image. I took 1 shot then the boy leaned into the frame and made what I envisaged into something even stronger. Even if the boy could speak English the chances of getting him posed as he is would have been difficult and would have looked unnatural. Sometimes you have to work hard at getting the image you see in your head but the best images with the most impact just unfold in front of you. The key is seeing the image before it occurs and accepting acts of random behaviour as they happen.