Images from the series 'Le retour imaginaire' (Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography)

These 6 prints were purchased as part of the Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography. This is an Art Fund initiative for the British Museum and V&A to acquire a collection of 20th century and contemporary photography and digital images by artists from the Middle East (whether living in their countries of origin or outside). The Art Fund has given the two museums grants over £150,000 for the collection and additional support for the tour of the collection. Rahimi returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after years in France under political asylum and felt compelled to document the dramatic change to his native country. He used the pinhole camera to take pictures of people in everyday life situations and places around Kabul. The subjects are recent and violent places of history: the ancient Royal palace, built in 1919, today the Dârulamân palace, destroyed in 1992; or Ghazi Stadium that became a place of public execution under the Taliban regime. As a result of the nature of experimentation and chance, these photographic prints are unique pieces that cannot be replicated. Grainy and dream-like, the process makes them appear to have been made in the late 19th or early 20th century; yet on closer inspection modern details, such as architecture of clothing, gives clues as to their modernity.