Callan Murray-Hocking
Photography
Afghanistan
Between March and August 2013 I was able to work in Kabul. The project was on the site of the old Russian Silo in Kabul that against the odds of twenty plus years of war is till standing. My work allowed me to spend nearly everyday outside almost solely with Afghans; be they the labour on the project, the site security the silo worker or the lorry drivers that came through the Silo or people just taking a short cut from the surrounding neighbourhood.
Haiti
I spent two months in Haiti in 2012. I was Involved in a Creole/English exchnage once a week in a school set up by Romel Felon in Cite Soliel and worked with ti kay, a TB/HIV Clinic. I was in Port Au Prince for The Day Of The Dead where followers of the voodoo faith, which was brought to the island via the slave trade in the 16th and 17th centuries, seek to engage with spirits who protect followers and bring them into contact with an invisible world. Faces are painted white in imitaion of the Loa, Baron Samedi. Of all the places I have visited, Haiti remains my favourite.
Ethiopia
From January 2014 to June 2014 I worked in Ethipoia. I arrived just prior to Timkat, the Orthodox Christian celebration of Epiphany. My work was focused in the southern regions of Butajira, Warabi, Alaba, Durame and Sodo.
After completing my project I travelled to the northern areas of the country. Visiting Lalibela, Gheralta and the Danakil Depression.
Pakistan
I was Based in Quetta from September to November 2013. Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, and has been plagued by a separatist rebellion as well as a Taliban insurgency and sectarian violence. The workers on the project were a mixture of Punjabis from the east of Pakistan and Uzbeks who had followed the work down from Mazar sharif in the north of Afghanistan. The young workers in the pictures are their children. The Uzbek men are probably the toughest, hardest working I have come across.