“THE SENSIBILITY OF AN EXILE AND A POET”: ECLIPSE, SIGNED BY ZALMAÏ

AHAD, Zalmaï. Eclipse. New York: Umbrage Books, 2002. Oblong quarto, original black cloth, original photographic dust jacket. $100.

First edition, boldly signed by the photographer on the half title, with 75 arresting black-and-white photographs of “the slow, distressing drift of exile and disposession,” from the collection of award-winning photojournalist Peter Turnley.

“Unlike many photojournalists who went to Afghanistan after the United States began its campaign against Taliban forces in October [2001], Zalmaï Ahad knew the country on a personal level. He was born in Kabul in 1964, fled the country in 1980 soon after the invasion of Soviet troops, made Switzerland his home, studied photography and has worked as a freelance photographer since the late 1980s… Ahad brings the sensibility of an exile and a poet to the pictures he took of his ruined native land. His black-and-white images are sober, unsentimental and empathetic. Although they are often steeped in deep dark tones, they do not suggest despair. Rather, Ahad tends to juxtapose physical devastation with the human need to defy the odds. He shows, for instance, a gray-bearded man in traditional attire, a baby in his arms, the majesty of his posture eclipsing the bristling military hardware and a shelled building behind him” (New York Times). With preface by Atiq Rahimi and essay by Daniel Girardin. From the collection of Peter Turnley, acclaimed photojournalist for Newsweek, Life and Harper’s Magazine, who has covered “almost every important international news event of the last 15 years” (New York Times).

Tiny spot of soiling to front board. Dust jacket with closed tear to front panel. An about-fine signed copy.