‘Since I came to Ireland, I had this idea of telling the story of people who fled Afghanistan’

When photojournalist Barialai Khoshhal was fleeing Afghanistan last year one of the key challenges he faced was where would he go? While the award winning photographer had worked for many international media outlets he decided to travel to Ireland where one of his closest friends was going.

“One of my best friends from school got an Irish visa. I was planning to go to another country, but my mother told me to go with my schoolfriend as she knew how it feels to become a refugee in a new country where you don’t know anyone, as she became one for the first time when she was newly wed to my father.”

His family is now living in five different countries. His wife and son remain in Afghanistan; they took the difficult decision for him to leave as they felt he was at risk having worked for western media. His mother is now in Pakistan awaiting a visa to the United States while his sister and her children are in a refugee camp in Qatar.

The Irish Government and people have been so good to us on this path to a new life. We are all really grateful for the help we have received

“It is very hard, but this is the journey of life,” he says. Barialai’s work has been published with news agency AP, the BBC, ITV, Al Jazeera and Diplomat magazine. His career commenced thanks to a photography course at the US Embassy in Kabul, since then he has won a Unesco photography competition and his work has been exhibited in American and Canadian embassies in Kabul, the US, Canada, France, Iran, Norway and Indonesia.

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“I had a good life, a successful career. My life changed after leaving my family, home and country and it wasn’t easy — it was hard, depressing and gut wrenching.”

Barialai arrived in Ireland last October on a visa issued by the Government. He is now trying to find a way for his wife and two-year-old son to join him through the family reunification programme. “The Irish Government and people have been so good to us on this path to a new life. We are all really grateful for the help we have received,” he said.

An exhibition of Barialai’s portraits of the Afghan community in Ireland opens at the Photo Museum in Dublin’s Temple Bar this week where he is the current artist in residence. Thanks to the support of Irish NGO The Open Doors Initiative he was able to return to photography.

Jeanne McDonagh, chief executive of the Open Doors Initiative explains that they had been working with Amnesty Ireland and other organisations, to support Afghans who arrived in October last year.

Since I came to Ireland, I had this idea of telling the story of people who fled Afghanistan and to share their journey

“It has been an immense learning experience and we have met the most amazing people during this time, who have come together as a large Afghan-Irish community. We are honoured to have had them in our care and look forward to the great things that lie ahead as they integrate and find their paths.

“Barialai had spoken about his wish to practise photography again in Ireland after his career in Afghanistan ... We look forward to great things in the future from him.”

For Barialai, the exhibition is a reflection of the life he has established here. “I met some beautiful human beings — strangers who became like family. Now I am hopeful for the future and that I will be reunited with my family soon and we can properly start our lives here together and give something back to this country and the people who have taken us in and welcomed us.”

He will be working next on a larger project documenting the life of Afghans in Ireland, which he hopes to exhibit later in the year. “I was in my final year of university when I fled the country, so I will finish my studies also and make a new career here.”

The title of the exhibition launching on Thursday evening is Keeping Home and Hope Alive.

“I documented the life of nine Afghans who came to Ireland after the fall of Kabul last August, and how this has affected them, and how their lives have changed fundamentally,” he explains.

“Since I came to Ireland, I had this idea of telling the story of people who fled Afghanistan and to share their journey. Afghans lost their country once again and it wasn’t easy for any of them, leaving everything behind.”

For more details on the exhibition see: photomuseumireland.ie