Kabul: Exploring the soul of the city with Habibullah Hayat

Habib is a visual storyteller who introduced a Kabul that made me see the city beyond the image that photojournalists often create. Despite having gone through difficult decades, Kabul retains it's charm and this young man brings it out absolutely beautifully! Insha Allah I will visit Afghanistan sooner rather than later, and when I do I will surely walk the streets of Kabul with him. So the featured artist this week is Habib, aka kabulexplorer, and invite you all to see his city Kabul and his country Afghanistan through his eyes :)

And the pigeons fly high

The mesmerizing spread!

So, who is Habib?
Habib is someone who was born at the right time, but at the wrong place, studied the right field but works at the wrong place. He is a person with big dreams and high hopes. He's studied agriculture in high school, community college, and then university. He's planning to pursue his masters in plant breeding and biotechnology in the US, insha Allah. He aspires to have an adventurous career in agricultural research and innovation.

I'm a government employee currently working in a law enforcement agency. I am in the middle of switching jobs as I'm writing this. I'll be working at an agricultural agency of the government until my departure. I'll be studying plant breeding and biotechnology at a prestigious university in the US. Other than that, I have photography as my main hobby. I also tend to hang out with friends in my spare time.

What was your childhood like Habib?
I was born in Kandahar airfield. My father was an air force officer, so the Air Force let us live in apartment buildings made for them. We moved out to Kabul in 2002 so the first ten-eleven years of my life were spent in Kandahar. Apart from four years of schooling, I'd ranch our cow. Ranching the cow is something I still remember quite vividly and even though it wasn't for a day or two, it's the preferred memory of my childhood.

Kids with papa

Clicking a friend!

Any inspirations?
There are a combination of people and events/incidents that inspired me to be the person I'm today and keep helping me  improve on that. My childhood experience with farming, some teachers in different schools I've attended, a professor in community college, a professor in college (Mohammad Wali Salari), many events and incidents throughout my life, especially educational life, has shaped the person I'm today. Mr. Salari has inspired me to pursue plant breeding in graduate school and beyond. I believe there will be more people and incidents in life waiting to inspire me or to teach me better myself even more.

What does photography mean to you?
I see beauty in everything; the mundane and special. And I want to share that perspective. It's been a few years since I started photography and focused more on delivering positive images. I was also looking for an appropriate medium to share my photography with the world. That's how I discovered Instagram. It can connect people and their art and photography from around the world.

'I see beauty in everything'

'Photography will always be my favorite hobby'

A cobbler on the streets...

As years passed by, I transitioned from using a mediocre smartphone camera to a dedicated camera for the sake of better quality. It wasn't just an equipment transition, I've evolved too. I've learned very much about how to use those tools to take better quality pictures. I do acknowledge that I have much more to learn about the art of photography. One thing I know for sure is that it will always be my favorite hobby.

Kabul! What is it like?
Kabul city has a spirit. You can only feel it once you've visited it. I can assure you that photojournalistic imagery doesn't even cover one percent of the liveliness in this city. Let's not forget that photojournalists are looking for news and news are mostly negative. I'm not a journalist nor am I a photojournalist. I don't even consider myself a photographer. The appropriate word would be VISUAL STORYTELLER. I tend to tell stories of myself wandering around and in and out of this city but in beautiful pictures.

A glorious sunrise...

Exploring the ruins from within...

On the streets of Kabul...

This city isn't like any you've probably ever seen. You may have seen many more beautiful places but ithis one is unique to itself. I've lived here and went to schools, so I have this debt I have to pay back to it. I, mostly, edit my images. They're intentional and they are meant to enhance the visual quality of the photographs. I don't try to alter any subjects or objects in my images, mostly. Snapseed and VSCOCAM are what I use for editing on the iPad. I also use Lightroom and VSCO Film presets for some of the images.

Let's talk about your personal life :)
I'm still single. You'll rarely find someone at the age 25 and single in here and if you do, they are either educated people and aspire to educate themself more or maybe they can't afford to not stay single anymore. In my case, you could tick both boxes. Relationships outside or before marriage are considered extremely bad for the honor and reputation of all parties involved, though it may not stop you from liking, falling in love, or even secretly dating anyone. But still, conservatism is prevalent and getting caught while dating can have severe consequences for both persons. So, this all have been affecting everyone's lives including mine.

Afghani chai!

Men on way to work...

Afghan Flag!

Tell me your dream Habib?
I have many dreams. My biggest one would be a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. I want to visually tell the world how beautiful of a nature and landscape Afghanistan has. Even the bare and rocky mountains are extremely picturesque and pleasing to the eye. This would all be possible when I go on long road trips, hikes, and treks around this country. And that would require me to have an ample budget which will be taken care of by my plant breeding and maybe some other decent jobs.

Contact Habib
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