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Hiromi Nagakura wanted his pictures to show the viewers who
Massoud was as a human being, as a man. "He loved poems
and reading and was so kind to others." Hiromi Nagakura
remembers many scenes that showed Massoud's personality. He
recalls with pleasure and fascination the following story :
a commander came to see Massoud to ask for money, weapons and
food, while he was reading a poem. Since he didn't have what
the commander was asking for, he answered that the poem he was
reading was very good. The commander insisted but Massoud continued
saying the poem was very interesting and started reading it.
Hiromi Nagakura remembers with amazement that Massoud accepted
back the soldiers who had betrayed him.
He is very moved when speaking about his friend Massoud. He
admired him, liked him very much and was so happy to be always
treated as a friend. He was impressed by Massoud's personality
and took pictures of daily life and warfare. Hiromi Nagakura
was always watching him. He underlines that he is not a writer,
he needs to see, to observe before he can take a photograph.
He
explains that Massoud was a "mirror" for him. "I
would take a picture and would see myself in it." Massoud
was very helpful, very kind to the old. If I took a picture
of him helping an old person, I would reflect and wonder if
I was good with old people.
Massoud
thought God was with him, he wanted and tried to be a good
Muslim. For him, Islam was about living together in peace.
Massoud thought if he was still alive in the future, he would
study again and work in trade. He would have liked to spend
more time with his family too. He treated people with a lot
of respect and was always very modest. However, he was killed
in 2001.
Massoud
was the link between Hiromi Nagakura and Afghanistan. He always
spoke about the importance of education because one day the
war would be over. In 2002, Hiromi Nagakura worked with an
NGO to provide help to a primary school in the Panjshir Valley.
With these children, Hiromi Nagakura will keep a connection
with Afghanistan and with Massoud's dream.
Hiromi
Nagakura's dream would have been to photograph Massoud in
peaceful Afghanistan.
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