Skateboarding to empower girls in Afghanistan
Photographer Jessica Fulford-Dobson will present her series of portraits, Skate Girls of Kabul, in a major new exhibition presented by Roshan from 15 to 28 April 2015 at London’s Saatchi Gallery.
Jessica Fulford-Dobson won 2nd prize in the 2014 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize with Skate Girl, just one of a series of works made on location in Kabul, where young girls from poor and displaced families were being taught to skateboard as a hook to get them back into full-time education. After just one year of attending the Back to School programme, the girl in the prize-winning portrait (above) has passed her first three educational grades and is now enrolled in the national school system. She still attends Skateistan in her free time.
Wanting to capture the wonderful story of Afghan girls skateboarding, Jessica first approached Skateistan in 2012 to ask them if she could visit their site in Kabul.