Photographers Reza Deghati and Jason Florio meet again after 20 years. Image courtesy of Helen Jones-Florio, Valletta, Malta, July 2018
Photographers, Jason Florio & Reza Deghati – Almost 20 years ago, whilst I was still trying to break out of assisting, I was fortunate to have dinner with legendary National Geographic photographers David Alan Harvey and Reza Deghati, in NYC. A life-affirming conversation with them gave me the confidence to pursue the path of photojournalism, that I was just starting to tread upon. Today, here in Malta (when he presented and exhibited his project, ‘Exile Voices‘), after all these years, I had the beautiful opportunity to meet Reza again – and let him know that his and David’s words had a profound impact on my life. It’s been a crazy journey at times, but the one which I feel blessed to be on…
Taschakor, Reza! Great to see you … let’s not wait another 20 years!! JF
Arrival into the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan from Tajikistan with Northern Alliance fighters ©Jason Florio
One of the first assignments, as a photojournalist, after that inspiring meeting in NYC with Reza and David, took me to Afghanistan (more than once, over the years)
An Afghan Diary
“My journey to the Taliban-controlled region of Afghanistan in August 2000 was in fact not planned. I was on my way to Kashmir to follow the ‘jihad trail’ when I got a call to join my colleague and writer, Pepe Escobar, who was working on jihad stories on the Pakistan-Afghan border – he said: “This is (Afghanistan) where it’s really happening…”. read more on my website
Jason Florio
Currently in Malta – covering Europe and Africa
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