While on tour with the British Army in Afghanistan, photographer Bran Symondson became captivated by the private lives and remarkable contradictions of the life of the ostensibly British and American trained Afghan National Police; he was later commissioned by The Sunday Times and the Ministry of Defence to return to the country to document what he’d witnessed there. The resulting images — which will be on display at London’s Idea Generation Gallery beginning January 27th — explore a private, rarely seen side of a conflict that seems to be nowhere near conclusion.
“Our job was to mentor the ANP so they could gain control and order,” Symondson recently told GQ UK . “But in actual fact we ended up policing them and their corruption, from bribes at road blocks to male rape. I was living and fighting closely with them for six months and while encountering the same danger, fear and hardship, I managed to capture some intimate moments with them. Over the months you grow to accept all their differences and by the end of a tour I came to respect them and form bonds of trust with these unlikely heroes.”
The Best View Of Heaven Is From Hell is on view at Idea Generation Gallery from January 28th through February 20th.
Click through below to view a selection of images from the show, along with commentary from Symondson.
Bran Symondson. Best View of Heaven is from Hell. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“Found daubed on a captured building in Helmand Province, now acting as an HQ for ISAF troops. This slogan summed up everything for me, the heat, madness and irony. A fitting name for an exhibition I thought…”
Bran Symondson, Guns & Roses. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“These pink roses shrieked out at me against the back drop of the desert. Not wilting from a button hole paraded around at Ascot, but on parade, wilting at the end of his AK47.”
Bran Symondson, Eyes on Mount Doom. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“On foot patrol, fields of stunning opium poppies in flower. Listening. Taking in the trickling sound of a stream under the shade of a pomegranate tree. Awaiting this surreal serenity to be shattered by the possibility of Taliban positions ahead.”
Bran Symondson, R.P.G & Tea. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“Was a beautifully peaceful evening, mellowing in the sunset… Drinking tea in an opium field — as you do! Poetic… An effeminate stance against the phallic RPG rounds.”
Bran Symondson, A Chai Boy on Duty. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“On patrol and wearing a ‘chitraii’ hat. Often worn straight, he slides his to a jauntyangle. The shape of it strangely blending into the forms of the poppy heads around him.”
Bran Symondson, Afghan Catch 22. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“Proud of his creation…life, beauty and a purveyor of death in a jam jar. Summing up a question often asked in a war zone: Will your demise be through greed or ignorance, or are you just the poor bastard dropped into that situation?”
Bran Symondson, Chai Boy Chilling. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“A Chai boy off duty, out of his A.N.P. uniform…Hands and feet newly hennaed, roses in hand. The roses as fresh as the kohl liner around his eyes and a sense of flirtation in the air.”
Bran Symondson, Chai Boys. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“Two Chai boys in the police compound. There’s an awkwardness in the way they hold themselves — but very proud. Like teenage girl’s vanity but with the lack of a mirror.”
Bran Symondson, Nails and Thorns. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“The femininity of the painted fingernails and roses gave a surreal contrast of textures and purpose against the metal of the AK47.”
Bran Symondson, Rose Lips. Courtesy of the artist and The Idea Generation Gallery
“I’m often asked if I staged this shot but you could never fake how surreal it looks. The scent from these roses is amazing, a light interval from the heavy fug of sweat. Flowers are often given as a mark of respect.”