FAITH IN TRANSITION
Set in Northwest Pakistan, this project explores the intimate reality of religious conversions within a small indigenous community, balancing animism and Islam. For centuries, the Kalash have lived in the remote Hindu Kush mountains, their traditions woven into rituals of dance, color, and fire. Yet, with the Muslim world as their long-standing neighbor, change has always been at the edge of their existence. For Kalash youth, growing up means navigating an identity shaped by both heritage and change.
Fifteen winters before Hania’s birth, her mother, Majina, converted from kalash to Islam. Tonight Majina will pray while the kalash celebrates their purification in fire and dance; a celebration she once knew by heart
In the midst of winter, Shamraz celebrates her purification, testifying her faith as Kalash. Not long ago, her father converted to islam, leaving her, and her sisters at a crossroad; shifting Between belonging and becoming
In Islam, conversion is a one-way path: an irreversible commitment. Last year alone, 90 Kalash embraced the faith, part of a growing wave that has seen hundreds leave their ancestral beliefs, within a population of just 4,000. Conversion, for some, is a personal act of love or survival, offering relief and a sense of belonging to the majority. For others, it brings profound loss and disconnection.
“if you can never return, what happens to the part of you that stays behind”
For many, change begins at home. As it is often the parents who convert, the children find themselves at a crossroad; torn between ancestral customs, and Islamic practice. This shift is not just about faith, but about belonging, raising profound questions of continuity, choice, and the pressure to take sides.
An early morning in december, Alina, seals her faith to kalash. With no father, and a mother who is now Muslim, she celebrates alone, guided by her community
Asrad Gul speaks of what is never spoken of; as the only female doctor in Bumburet, she treats and discusses with all females, Kalash or Muslim, about prevention and other aspects of intercourse which are not tought about in school.
As a young woman, Hima grew up embracing the traditions of the Kalash people. But when her husband—Kalash like her—chose to convert to Islam, she followed him into a new faith.
“I did it for my kids”
"Honor is in the mind, not the veil"
- Kalash convert