As a young lady, Jessica Fulford-Dobson, an award-winning photographer, was under the impression that skateboarding was for males only, and therefore, did not attempt the sport.  So, when she heard of young girls skating in Afghanistan, of all countries, she wanted to see it for herself, she explained at the photographic exhibition at the Ismaili Centre Dubai.

Her eyes lit up as she spoke of her aspiration to meet these young girls, who despite their circumstance and culture, were bridging gender parity. Her first request to come to Afghanistan, was denied for safety reasons, but she persevered with a promise to create a book entitled ‘Skate Girls of Kabul.’ She held the audience’s attention as she recalled her first visit in 2013, a woman landing in Afghanistan with a camera; the awe of the sight of the girls skateboarding for the first time; communicating with the eyes in absence of vocal language, and the forming of bonds and trust through repeated visits. Initial reluctance eventually led to all of the girls asking to be photographed.

Jessica Fulford-Dobson travelled to Afghanistan in the summers of 2013 and 2014.  Her engaging photographs taken over a total of six weeks deftly explore cultural, religious, and gender stereotypes.  This series of striking portraits tells the extraordinary story of Afghan girls who took up skateboarding, thanks to Skateistan, an international NGO founded in 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan that provides skate parks as a means of enabling girls from disadvantaged families to return to the educational system.

Not only did Jessica Fulford-Dobson present an uncomplicated and unabashed celebration of childhood and girl power through her photographs; she also captured the sense of freedom, empowerment, strength of self, and happiness of being ‘the Skate Girls of Kabul.’

The exhibition was open for local educational institutions and the general public. It was attended  by diplomats and covered by local media as part of Art Dubai.