Teach with Collections: Fazal Sheikh, Qurban Gul, holding a photograph of her son

Fazal Sheikh, Class of 1987, is a socially engaged documentary photographer known for his poignant black-and-white portraits of displaced persons. He aims to create "simple, direct, and respectful" images that are often modulated by accompanying texts drawn from Sheikh's extensive interviews and conversations with his sitters. Part of the text accompanying this photograph reads: "Mula Awaz was my youngest son. In 1986, when he was eighteen years old, his group of Mujahedin attacked a communist post. In the exchange of fire, he was killed. Before the news of his death reached us, I dreamed that my son's body was being prepared for burial. When he had been washed and wrapped in white cloth, he was carried to the graveyard. They laid his body on the ground and turned his head towards Mecca. Then his body was covered with earth."

Conversation prompts:

How might you relate Sheikh's works to the tradition of portraiture?

How do the accompanying texts change the effects of the photographs?

Did Sheikh manage to avoid the problematic power dynamic between artist and sitter that is often found in documentary photography? Why or why not?