Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Zalmaï Ahad was forced into exile in 1980, at the age of 15, after the Soviet invasion of his country. he travelled to Lausanne, Switzerland . In 1994 he became a Swiss citizen. Following his passion for photography, which he discovered very early in life, he pursued combined studies at both the school of photography of Lausanne and at the Professional Photography Training Center of Yverdon.
In 1989, he began to work as a freelance photographer, travelling around the world from Indonesia to the Egypt, from Cuba (to cover the 40th anniversary of the Cuban revolution) to Central Africa (to cover the fate of the pygmies following extensive deforestation of their land). His work has been published in several magazines and newspapers including the New York Times Magazine, Time Magazine, Le Temps, Newsweek, La Repubblica, ICRC Magazine, Human Rights Watch and Refugees Magazine, a quarterly publication of UNHCR. His first photo book, Eclipse (Umbrage, 2002) deals with the theme of exile and the plight of the uprooted in different corners of the planet: Cuba, India, Mali, the Philippines, Indonesia and Egypt.
Zalmai has exhibited his work around the world at museums, galleries, universities and cultural centers. Return, Afghanistan 2003/UNHCR/Aperture , a large exhibition about the return of the Afghan people to their homeland after years living in exile, is still traveling in Europe; Hidden Afghanistan, produced in conjunction with the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), premiered in Kabul in 2005 and Zalmai continues to work on this subject -- the effect of poppy cultivation on the life of the people.
The originality and remarkable quality of Zalmaï's work has earned him several national and international prizes including the World Press Joop Swart Master Class, Days Japan 2006 an d Photo District News (PDN) annual award for documentary photography. Zalmaï is a member of the Association Focale, a cooperative of photographers based in Nyon, Switzerland.
Zalmai continues to focus his work on Afghanistan, creating a photographic document of the modern history of Afghanistan.
A traditional user of black and white photos, Zalmaï explains in his book why, for the first time, he chose colour: "I felt that now, after such a long time, there was hope again for Afghanistan. It seemed to me that colours were returning and that they would be those of a peaceful country. And so I set out to find this hope, with — for the first time — colour film in my camera."
Through the "Return, Afghanistan" exhibition and his book, Zalmaï would like to remind the world of the plight and courage of millions of refugees who have returned to Afghanistan, and of their huge need for assistance in a country devastated by war and now just beginning to reconstruct itself.
As Zalmaï says, "My project tries to capture the determination and the courage of a people that has rarely known peace, their optimism against all odds, and their worry that Afghanistan could still return to the nightmarish condition it is trying to escape."

 

 

 

Born Kabul, Afghanistan. Settled in Lausanne 1980, Switzerland (citizenship 1994)
1985 - 1987 School of Creative Photography, Lausanne, Switzerland and Center of Professional Education in Photography (CEPP), Yverdon, Switzerland.
1988- Assistant to Luc Chessex, Photographer.
1990 - Current Member of Focale Association, Nyon, Switzerland.
1992 - 1994 Co-photo Editor, Nouveau Quotidien (daily newspaper), Lausanne, Switzerland.
1988 - Current Freelance photographer for various publications including News Week,Time , Time Asia ,L’Hebdo, The New York Times, Le Temps,UNHCR, ICRC, UNODC, SDC,HRW...

REPORTAGES

1989 India: Tibetan refugees in Dharmsala and Rickshaw drivers in Calcutta.
1990 – 1991 Thailand, Philippines, Brunei and Singapore: Sociological dynamics & daily life.
1991 – 1992 Central African Republic (C.A.R.): Peuls and Sudanese refugee camps .
1993 Mexico: All Souls Day.
1994 Egypt, Mali: Touaregs
Pakistan and Afghanistan: Land mine victims, with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1995 Burma and Indonesia: Work conditions of manual labourers.
1996 Afghanistan and Pakistan: Landmines, produced by and for the International Red Cross.
Pakistan: Erosion and deforestation of mountains, produced by and for the Swiss Development Corporation.
1997 Indonesia, produced by and for the Swiss Development Corporation.
1998 New York, U.S.A.
1999 Cuba: Daily life in Havana.
2000 Philippines: “Promised Land”, Payatas garbage avalanche
2001 The fall of Taliban/ Afghanistan for News week
2002 Return Afghanistan for UNHCR,
2004 Sri Lanka, Tsunami for SDC Switzerland
2003/2006 Reportage for News week , The New York times magazine, Human Rights Watch .UNODC

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1988 16/25 Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland.
1989 Focale Gallery, Nyon, Switzerland
Photoforum, Lucerne,Switzerland .
1990 Terrasse Gallery in Sierre, Switzerland
Am Stram Gram Theatre, Geneva, Switzerland.
1991 Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland Audio-visual “Obligatory Passage”, Calcutta Rickshaw Drivers.
1992 Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland Audio-visual “Memories of Man”, dedicated to the Pygmies .
1995 Focale Gallery, Nyon, Switzerland “Mutilated Hope”, reportage from Afghanistan.
1998 2000 Switzerland, Germany and Austria: Salzburg, Innsbruck, Durbin, Wien, Bochum, Mainz, Leipzig, Munich, Dsseldorf and Hanover “Afghanistan”, produced by and for ICRC, German and Austrian Red Cross, ECHO and Information European Commission.
2001 New York, Lincoln center “ Forgotten hostages “ by Human Rights Watch .
2002 New York, St. Lawrence University's Richard F. Brush Art Gallery "War and Peace"
2002 Ethnographies Museum ,Geneva, Switzerland " Forgotten hostages “
2003 Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland « Eclipse »
2003 Bordeaux ,France “Eclipse »
2003 , La Monte Gallery, New York Name of exhibition ?
2004 Bâtiment des Forces Motrices BFM, Geneva , "Return,Afghanistan " produced by and for UNHCR
2004 The National art club New York, USA , "War and Peace"
2004 Kennedy Center, Washington DC , , “Return,Afghanistan " produced by and for UNHCR and Aperture New York.
2004 National Geographic Museum, Washington DC, USA, "Return,Afghanistan .produced by and for UNHCR and Aperture New York.
2004 Amoni School Kabul, Afghanistan, "Return,Afghanistan . produced by and for SDC and UNHCR
2004 United Nations Head Quarters, Geneva, Switzerland "Return,Afghanistan” .
2005 De Paul Art Museum, Chicago , USA "War and Peace"
2005 The Laband Art Gallery at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles ,USA "Return,Afghanistan "
2005 Kabul: "Hidden, Afghanistan" produced by UNODC
2005 Artspace, Dubai: "Return, Afghanistan"
2006 Kuntshaus Museum, Lichtenstien, "Return, Afghanistan"
2006 Doris McCarthy Gallery UTSC Toronto ,Canada, "Return, Afghanistan"

JOINT EXHIBITIONS

1991 Art History Museum, Fribourg, Switzerland “700th Anniversary of theConfederation of Switzerland”, organized by Musée de l’Elysée.
1993 Saint-Gervais (Center of Photography), Geneva, Switzerland
Institute of Social Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
“All Souls Days”, featuring members of the Focale Association.
1997 – 1998
- Foire D’Arts de Bale, Switzerland
- Focale Gallery, Nyon, Switzerland
- WORLD PRESS, JOOP SWART MASTER CLASS 1997 Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Holland

DISTINCTIONS / AWARDS

1995 “Young Creator Award” received from the “Fondation vaudoise de photographie contemporaine”, (Cantonal foundation for promotion of artists and creation, based in Lausanne, Switzerland).
1997 Federal prize for Applied Arts for the upcoming photography book Eclipse, Switzerland.
WORLD PRESS, JOOP SWART MASTER CLASS 1997.
2006 Days Japan, International Photojournalism award
2006, Photo District News New York, photojournalism award

BOOKS

2002“ECLIPSE” edited by Umbrage Editions, New York, USA.
2004 “Return, Afghanistan edited by Aperture Edition, New York, USA and UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland.
MagazinesTime, News Week , The New York Time Magazine ,Time Asia ,Human Rights Watch Magazine , UNHCR Magazine , Le Temps ect...