About the Image
“Saadullah and Sanaullah played in front of the mosque in Dah Warda when I took this photo at the end of a sweltering summer day. Their village sits at the edge of the desert in Northern Afghanistan, where wells have to run deep. Dah Warda has always stood on the brink of extinction. For as long as its residents can remember, the sand has battered the village’s houses, threatening to swallow them.”
June 2025
The Photographer
Emile Ducke is a German documentary photographer based in Berlin. He has documented life in the Afghan village of Dah Warda for Die Zeit, Herat’s last glass blowers, among other visual dispatches from across Afghanistan.
In longer-term projects, he has focused on the challenges faced by communities in some of Russia’s most remote areas, with photo-essays published by the Washington Post, National Geographic and Der Spiegel, among others. He has been selected a World Press Photo 6×6 visual storyteller, named one of PDN’s 30 emerging photographers to watch, and awarded the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award.
Our Print Sale
This image is part of a collected of curated, limited run prints available for two weeks only.
All proceeds from the sale will go directly towards the cost of training female artisans in Afghanistan. Our training helps them to refine their craft and be able to sell directly to the international market, through orders we help them secure—bringing in vital livelihoods to their families and communities in a country facing economic crisis.
About the Image
“Saadullah and Sanaullah played in front of the mosque in Dah Warda when I took this photo at the end of a sweltering summer day. Their village sits at the edge of the desert in Northern Afghanistan, where wells have to run deep. Dah Warda has always stood on the brink of extinction. For as long as its residents can remember, the sand has battered the village’s houses, threatening to swallow them.”
June 2025
The Photographer
Emile Ducke is a German documentary photographer based in Berlin. He has documented life in the Afghan village of Dah Warda for Die Zeit, Herat’s last glass blowers, among other visual dispatches from across Afghanistan.
In longer-term projects, he has focused on the challenges faced by communities in some of Russia’s most remote areas, with photo-essays published by the Washington Post, National Geographic and Der Spiegel, among others. He has been selected a World Press Photo 6×6 visual storyteller, named one of PDN’s 30 emerging photographers to watch, and awarded the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award.
Our Print Sale
This image is part of a collected of curated, limited run prints available for two weeks only.
All proceeds from the sale will go directly towards the cost of training female artisans in Afghanistan. Our training helps them to refine their craft and be able to sell directly to the international market, through orders we help them secure—bringing in vital livelihoods to their families and communities in a country facing economic crisis.
