I took this photo last year in Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan. Really lucky timing. I had just set up on a mound by the field where they play Buzkashi (lit. Goat Pulling, though they actually use a cow calf) every Friday during the cooler months, when the horseman with the calf carcass galloped towards me with the others in pursuit. I took a couple of shots and was about to run away when he veered left at the last second. I wasn't so lucky at other times. I was hit by running horses on a couple of occasions and once by a car which was trying to escape a group of players running in it's direction. I thought I could finding safety by running behind a car which was parked on the perimeter - I was wrong. However out of all the shots i took on several occasion this photo, which was one of the first I ever took, is the best.
One of the things I like best about this photo is the expression on the front player's face. One can actually feel the weight of the calf carcass through the expression of strain and concentration on his face.
I also thought it captures perfectly the theme of freezing a split-second moment theme. The horsemen, for all their movement seem frozen in time and space.
7 responses
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Sara Fifarek said (8 Feb 2008):
This has got to have a great story behind it.
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Dean Cully said (9 Feb 2008):
Horrifically beautiful.
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pendar yousefi said (11 Feb 2008):
Awesome shot, I would be seriously disappointed if it doesn't make it.
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Thix said (13 Feb 2008):
This is a very interesting pic. There's a lot of things happening, lots of details. Good job! You got my vote.
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Jason Watt gave props (14 Feb 2008):
excellent tones, focus blah blah... but what timing!! Superb, your struggles were truly worth it.
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Kiana Toufighi said (7 Mar 2008):
Didn't you submit this once? I thought I voted for it. Maybe it was a different one from the same sequence. In any case, it's a really nice capture. Good work!
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Karen England gave props (24 Mar 2009):
Great action shot!
