Afghanistan photo-journalism agency to take part in PhotoWorld-Dubai 2005

Now, Channels Exhibitions, the organisers of PhotoWorld-Dubai 2005, have invited AINA Photo of Afghanistan to present its pioneering activities at the imaging exhibition taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on March 15-17.

AINA Photo was established in 2002 by AINA, a non-profit association founded in France in August 2001 by Iranian-born photographer Reza.

Based in Kabul, the agency now offers Afghans the opportunity to tell their own stories, and covers their daily life after 23 years of conflict and political instability.

The core of the new agency's professionals came from Afghanistan's first school of photo-journalism, founded in 2002 by Iranian-born international press photographer Manoocher Deghati. About 15 Afghan men and women were given a chance to train as photo journalists, and some later joined AINA Photo.

Today, the agency has a network of many Afghan photographers, both men and women, working out of the country's main cities.

The association AINA brings together a team of 25 volunteers and media professionals, and employs 250 Afghans - including 130 journalists - in eight media and cultural centres and gives training courses each year to more than 300 journalists and students.

Publications supported by AINA reach more than 250,000 readers, its mobile educative cinema screenings reach almost a million viewers annually and its partner radio programmes - including the first women's station - enjoy an audience of three to five million listeners throughout Afghanistan.

PhotoWorld Dubai will showcase AINA along with the latest developments in a technological revolution that is transforming the 164-year history of photography.

From camera phones to professional laboratory systems, PhotoWorld will guide users through the complexity of equipment available, bringing together the diverse sectors that comprise the digital-imaging market, from manufacturers and suppliers to users such as advertising agencies, repro houses, design studios, web publishers, and wedding photographers.

Justin Boutros, managing director of Channels Exhibitions, the organisers, says: "There's an excitement about digital imaging that extends across traditional boundaries between professional and enthusiast. From personal cameras to specialist professional photo-lab equipment, this exhibition will bring everyone right up-to-date with what is new and exciting."
Show times for PhotoWorld-Dubai are 11am-8pm for trade and imaging professionals, and 3pm-8pm for the general public