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These powerful photographs, produced by an inkjet process on canvas, are by the renowned landscape photographer and Afghanistan advocate, Luke Powell. The photographs were taken in the fall of 2000 when Powell was involved in the landmine disposal operations of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) both in areas of the country controlled by the Taliban, and in areas controlled by the Northern Alliance.

Powell’s photographs have been shown in over a hundred museums and galleries around the world, including the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian), the Royal Ontario Museum, the Fotographie Forum Frankfurt, and the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva. The photographs reflect Powell’s deep and eclectic interests in Afghanistan rug design; 19th century American “luminist” painters; and Japanese Ukiyo-e landscape prints. Powell has written:

It is important for those living in the industrial world to develop an appreciation for cultures that are sustainable, to learn to see beauty and survival in a world where people walk, live in daily contact with animals, raise their own food, pray, and live in families.  Afghanistan in the late 20th century was a strange and beautiful window on the ancient world…I became a photographer because I fell in love with the beauty of Afghanistan.

Powell is perhaps best known for his extraordinary and world-renowned exhibit, The Afghan Folio, a series of vivid dye-transfer prints developed from his journeys in-country during the 1970s and 1980s.  The exhibit has just returned from a long-term showing at the United States Embassy in Kabul, and is now also being shown on the 2nd floor of the NYU Kimmel Center in the Commuter Student Lounge. Another series of large format photographs, given as a gift to NYU by Luke Powell, is also on exhibit in the NYU Office for International Students and Scholars, 561 LaGuardia Place.

Luke Powell was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies at UNC in 1969, and the Master of Religious Studies at Yale University in 1972, where he also studied painting under Bernard Chaet. The recipient of many awards for his photography, Powell is currently living in Nova Scotia and completing a book of his Afghanistan photographs.

This exhibition is sponsored by the NYU Kimmel Center and the Office for International Students and Scholars. For more information, contact the curator of Kimmel Galleries,  Jovana Stokic at kimmel.galleries@nyu.edu, David Austell at david.austell@nyu.edu, or Luke Powell at luke@lukepowell.com.