"Truth"

In early 2004, in the midst of uncertainty about everything, the terrible tangle of politics and fighting that seems to characterize our post 9/11 world, I went to a Muslim country in search of a bit of truth for myself, some fragment of a common humanity I could hold onto and treasure in times of doubt.

I never told anyone I was an American,...
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"Truth"

In early 2004, in the midst of uncertainty about everything, the terrible tangle of politics and fighting that seems to characterize our post 9/11 world, I went to a Muslim country in search of a bit of truth for myself, some fragment of a common humanity I could hold onto and treasure in times of doubt.

I never told anyone I was an American, that I was a freelance photographer working alone, or that I really did want to know about the effect my country's policies were having. Instead I resolved never to talk about governments, and I made a real effort to blend in. But nothing could hide my skin, and eventually over hundreds of handshakes and endless cups of tea concerns about safety melted away in the rush of interest over why I had come.

And what I discovered in Pakistan was not hostility, but kindness, not the closeted but the curious, not people searching to vent their anger about politics but looking, as we all do, for where to get their next meal, some clean water, a new pair of shoes.

More at www.jaydunn.com
Humanitarian Issues & Cultural Tradition Worldwide

Look for the anthologies
"Ritual and Romance in Asia" and "Agadez to Accra: from the deserts of Niger to the Gulf of Guinea" at

www.ritualandromance.com
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