Our vision is drenched with images every day, we scroll through Facebook feeds to keep up to date with our friends' lives, we follow the news with its images of misfortune and disaster, we capture memories and record the unfolding of our lives. Imagine if none of this was allowed. Imagine a world with no photos. The people of Afghanistan endured many hardships under Taliban rule and the ban on photography was one of them. No photography means to voice, no proof of atrocities committed, no ability to build or share the story of a national identity. The regime fell from power in 2001, and a strong, brave wave of photographers has since emerged, set on telling the story of modern day Afghanistan.
Frame by Frame focuses on four Afghan photojournalists Najibullah Musafa, Wakil Kohsar, Massoud Hossaini and Farzana Wahidy. All of them come to photography from diverse backgrounds and approach their craft from different angles. But they are all committed to fighting for the freedom of expression and showing the world an honest account of reality through the lens. The documentary made its debut at South by Southwest this year and has since been making a steady journey around film festivals throughout the world, including New Zealand's Documentary Edge Film Festival.