The Kabuler
Issue 1
This Book Is True
English
Edited by Cristina de Middel, Lorenzo Meloni and Johan Faes
Softcover
128 pages
220 x 275 mm
2023
ISBN 9788409497591
One-off magazine entitled ‘The Kabuler’ by Magnum photographers Cristina de Middel and Lorenzo Meloni. Accompanied by essays, interviews, and stories, The Kabuler presents a nuanced image of Afghanistan, in which they have not shied away from light-hearted subjects and humour.
How do you photograph one of the world’s most documented regions of the past twenty years? This is what Cristina de Middel (b. 1975) and Lorenzo Meloni (b. 1983) asked themselves when they travelled to Afghanistan together. Previously, De Middel had been successful with her conceptual projects, while Meloni had visited many conflict zones as a war photographer.
The photos of De Middel and Meloni have now been published in the form of a magazine, The Kabuler, as a nod to American weekly magazines. It contains articles, interviews, and opinion pieces, but they have also made room for lighter topics and even humor. With this publication, they hope to honour the multiplicity of voices within Afghan society and the country’s complicated history.
(Source: https://thisbookistrue.es/products/the-kabuler-by-cristina-de-middel-lorenzo-meloni)
About the Magazine
How do you photograph a region that has already been intensively documented over the past twenty years? This is what Magnum photographers Cristina de Middel (1975) and Lorenzo Meloni (1983) asked themselves when they set off to Afghanistan together in 2022. When the Western troops retreated in 2021, this also resulted in a diminished interest in the country in the Western media. With the Taliban repositioning themselves during De Middel and Meloni’s journey, the duo put Afghanistan in front of their lenses for the photo project ‘The Kabuler’. The photographs – powerful portraits, surrealistic landscapes, and everyday scenes – formed the point of departure for a one-off magazine entitled ‘The Kabuler’. Accompanied by essays, interviews, and stories, The Kabuler presents a nuanced image of Afghanistan, in which they have not shied away from light-hearted subjects and humour.
https://www.kunsthal.nl/en/#tijdlijn-2026-02
(Source: https://www.kunsthal.nl/en/about-kunsthal/news/thekabuler/)
About the Publisher
This Book is True is a publishing house with a funny name for a reason we don’t recall. We are based in downtown Madrid (Spain). We are small but passionate about books and we are always looking for stories outside the norm and the general taste of the market, which is always a good business strategy (ironic mode ON). With our books we want to contribute to the very much needed visual education in photography, expanding our scope to artists that come from the periphery of the industry and that experiment with story-telling.
https://thisbookistrue.es/
(Source: https://thisbookistrue.es/pages/contact)
