Stephen Dupont

Axe Me Biggie, or Mr. Take My Picture is a series of Polaroid portraits taken by Stephen Dupont on the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2006. “‘Axe Me Biggie,’ a crude Anglo phonetic rendering of the Dari for ‘Mister, take my picture!,’ is Dupont’s answer to the plea he heard all over Kabul,” writes journalist Jacques Menasche, “‘axe’ being a more visceral, violent version of the camera verb ‘to shoot.’ And because Stephen has that pulverizing Aussie rugby body, ‘axe me biggie’ also seems a request addressed to him personally. Stephen is Biggie. And on this day Biggie finally answers them all, en masse, saying, ‘Yes, alright. I will axe you, shoot you, take your bloody picture. Have a seat!’”