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Week 1/ Ramin Zamani/ Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan


This is my first post for our blog together. This is a picture of me in May of this year in Mazar-e-Sharif which is a province in Afghanistan. Mazar-e-Sharif does not have mountains so it is a very dusty and dirty desert like city. The air quality is pretty rough and harsh on the lungs. The city is covered in a blanket of clouds and I chose this picture because of how that affects the lighting. Another thing that affects the lighting in this photo are the tiles that I'm standing on. Because of the blanket of clouds and bright tiles, everything in between the two are pretty bright. It was even hard to keep my eyes open for a lot of the time that we were there. The mosque in this photo is called the Blue Mosque and is famous in Mazar-e-Sharif and Afghanistan in general as a sight for tourists. Everything about this mosque is handmade and there are even doves outside and inside of it. It is very tricky for women to get entry into this masjid and once you do get in (and you visibly look like a tourist) you have to prove you are a Muslim to the men at the door. From there, you would recite Quran to the men or just say your salaams and eventually gain entry. I was very lucky to be able to experience as a woman, especially as an Afghan woman. 

Fun Fact: My Great grandfather Ghulam Rasool Khan Parmach Nooristani built the infrastructure of this city and this masjid (1950-1960). 





Comments

  1. KayleeOctober 12, 2025 at 4:08 PM

    Hi Ramin! Thank you for sharing this photo, as well as the background information surrounding the importance of this mosque. From this photo, I can tell it is overcast, and bringing a calming vibe to the photo. Something that I enjoy about this photo is that the tiles are different shades. They each bring their own personality. Maybe it is the lighting that is affecting the shade of each tile. Also it is very cool that you were able to visit this place knowing your Great Grandfather built it himself. What a rich personal history!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lonnie AlcarazOctober 13, 2025 at 9:42 AM

    Great image and back story - amazing about your great grandfather. This is a great example of how an LD should research light for a production and how different it can be from place to place in the world. Nice post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lonnie AlcarazOctober 13, 2025 at 4:03 PM

    You put Week 1 in your post but it was the Week 2 post - next one will be Week 4

    ReplyDelete

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