'War and Peace in Afghanistan' on Display at BCC
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — "War and Peace in Afghanistan," an exhibit by Jonas Dovydenas, will be on display in the Koussevitzky Art Gallery at Berkshire Community College from Tuesday, Jan. 17 through Friday, Feb. 17."I hope my images also reflect my great respect for the American soldier, without whose presence peace in Afghanistan would be impossible. The black and white images are scans of film negatives from my trips in 1985, 1989 and the first two trips in 2004. The color images were taken with a digital camera," Dovydenas said."All the images are printed by inkjet on plain paper. These photographs were taken during three trips in 1985 and 1989 and during five more in the last two years. My purpose is to show, not tell, what is positive and good in Afghanistan. The love of freedom, the devotion to family, village life, the familiar human expression of the Afghan people – these are my subjects.”
It has been more than 20 years since Dovydenas took on the mission of photographing the war in Afghanistan. He lived with the mujahideen in the mountains, was embedded with the American soldiers in their firebases and went out on their missions. He also traveled to the villages and cities in ruins. But it’s not military adventures that are in his pictures — it's adventures on the human soul in a military situation. Dovydenas not only looks at the soldiers but, by predisposition and somewhat surprising himself, he examines his own self.
Dovydenas will discuss the exhibit “Documentary Photography: What does it mean?," Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 1:00 p.m. in room K-116 on BCC’s main campus. Forum credit is available for BCC students attending this discussion.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is located in BCC’s Koussevitzky Arts Center. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
