Bibi Aisha: Life Beyond the Cover

2010-2023Kabul, Afghanistan; United States

W–076

Bibi Aisha escaped a husband who beat her and ended up in prison. In a 2023 interview, she recalled spending five months there: at least no one was beating her behind bars. When her father-in-law came for her, she begged the police to let her stay. They returned her to her husband.

According to Aisha, her father had forced her to marry a Taliban member when she was twelve. TIME’s 2010 report places the attack in the previous year, 2009. After her release from prison, her husband took her into the mountains. Her hands and feet were bound; her ears and nose were cut off, and she was left to die. She found help and received treatment at an American hospital. Later she lived in a Kabul shelter run by Women for Afghan Women. The early World Press Photo catalogue gives fourteen as her age when she was handed over to her husband’s family; a correction to TIME’s 2023 interview gives twelve as her age at marriage.

On 15 July 2010, Jodi Bieber photographed her in Kabul for TIME. The magazine had commissioned portraits of Afghan women. In her account of the meeting, Bieber describes putting down her camera to talk to Aisha through an interpreter. The portrait appeared on the cover of the 9 August issue beside the headline “What Happens If We Leave Afghanistan.” The violence Aisha had already suffered became part of the debate over withdrawing American troops. In 2011, the photograph won World Press Photo’s top award.

In August 2010, Aisha came to the United States for reconstructive treatment offered by California’s Grossman Burn Foundation. In October she appeared at a fundraising gala wearing a removable prosthetic nose. Reconstruction had to be postponed: CNN reported that doctors considered her not yet emotionally ready for the long and difficult treatment. In November, Women for Afghan Women again took over her care and moved her to New York. CNN reported that Aisha’s father-in-law was arrested in late 2010 and released in July 2011.

In the summer of 2011, Aisha met Jamila Rasouli-Arsala and Mati Arsala. Back in New York, she called Jamila at night, asking to live with their family. In November she came to their home in Maryland. They believed she was visiting, but Aisha intended to stay. That same month she was granted asylum in the United States.

Reconstruction began in 2012 and required several stages. Surgeons expanded skin on her forehead and used tissue from her forearm to build a new nose. During these years of treatment, Aisha was learning to read, write and speak English.

In February 2023, TIME published Angelina Jolie’s interview with Aisha. Aisha said she had undergone 31 operations. She was living in Maryland and studying to become a nurse. She wanted to help people in pain, drawing on her own experience of treatment. Of all her photographs, she was proudest of the one on her driver’s licence.

Photographs and documents

Bibi Aisha looks at the camera wearing a purple scarf. — Kabul, 15 July 2010. Portrait for TIME; World Press Photo’s top award in 2011.Jodi Bieber / INSTITUTE / Goodman Gallery for TIME

Sources and provenance for frame 1

Photographer: Jodi Bieber. Date and place follow World Press Photo’s record. The catalogue describes Aisha as eighteen at the sitting; this entry does not establish a birth year. The public 1148 × 1440 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source World Press Photo File on WITNESS · 1148 × 1440

Aisha wearing a removable prosthetic nose and a black headscarf. — Aisha wearing a removable prosthetic nose. A California fundraising gala, October 2010, according to CNN.Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images

Sources and provenance for frame 2

The original file retains its photographic credit. The prosthesis is a temporary device, not the result of completed reconstruction. The public 440 × 550 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 440 × 550

Aisha embraces Esther Hyneman and kisses her cheek. — Aisha with Esther Hyneman, a Women for Afghan Women volunteer. Published by CNN in 2012; no exact exposure date is given.Courtesy Women for Afghan Women / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 3

CNN identifies the supplying organisation but not the photographer. The public 440 × 372 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 440 × 372

Aisha and Ariela Perlman smile at the camera. — Aisha with her tutor Ariela Perlman. From CNN’s 2012 report; the exact date is not given.Courtesy Ariela Perlman / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 4

The photograph was supplied by Ariela Perlman; its photographer is not identified. The public 440 × 330 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 440 × 330

Aisha writes in a notebook on her bed beside a laptop. — Aisha studying in her room. United States, CNN’s 2012 report.Edythe McNamee / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 5

Photographer: Edythe McNamee, credited in the file. CNN published the report in May 2012; the frame’s exact exposure date is not specified. The public 440 × 293 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 440 × 293

Aisha at a table with learning materials. — Aisha at an English lesson. United States, CNN’s 2012 report.Edythe McNamee / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 6

Photographer: Edythe McNamee, credited in the file. CNN published the report in May 2012; the frame’s exact exposure date is not specified. The public 440 × 295 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 440 × 295

Aisha and Jamila sit beside one another on a sofa. — Aisha with Jamila Rasouli-Arsala, whose family she lived with in Maryland. CNN’s 2012 report.Edythe McNamee / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 7

Photographer: Edythe McNamee, credited in the file. CNN published the report in May 2012; the frame’s exact exposure date is not specified. The public 440 × 248 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 440 × 248

Mati Arsala sits on a chair and gestures; Aisha sits on the sofa. — Aisha with Mati Arsala in the family’s Maryland home. CNN’s 2012 report.Edythe McNamee / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 8

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 440 × 248

Aisha on a swing at an outdoor playground. — Aisha at a playground. United States, CNN’s 2012 report.Edythe McNamee / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 9

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 440 × 293

Aisha looks at the camera; expanded skin is visible above her eyebrows. — Aisha during multistage reconstruction. CNN dates these photographs to before another operation in December 2012.Evelio Contreras / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 10

Photographer: Evelio Contreras. The photograph was taken during the multistage reconstruction of Aisha’s nose. The full size specified by the gallery is used. The public 5016 × 3344 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 5016 × 3344

Aisha moves her hair to reveal the area around her ear. — Aisha moves her hair away from her ear. December 2012, CNN’s treatment series.Evelio Contreras / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 11

Photographer: Evelio Contreras. The photograph was taken during the multistage reconstruction of Aisha’s nose. The full size specified by the gallery is used. The public 4425 × 2950 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 4425 × 2950

A surgical scar is visible on Aisha’s exposed forearm. — Aisha’s forearm, from which surgeons took tissue for reconstruction. December 2012, according to CNN.Evelio Contreras / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 12

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 5016 × 3344

Aisha holds her hair back and looks down. — Aisha before the next stage of treatment. CNN’s series, December 2012.Evelio Contreras / CNN

Sources and provenance for frame 13

Photographer: Evelio Contreras. The photograph was taken during the multistage reconstruction of Aisha’s nose. The full size specified by the gallery is used. The public 1280 × 720 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source CNN File on WITNESS · 1280 × 720

A screenshot shows Angelina Jolie and Bibi Aisha side by side during a video conversation. — Bibi Aisha talking to Angelina Jolie for TIME. A published screenshot posted by Too Young to Wed on 9 March 2023.TIME / Too Young to Wed

Sources and provenance for frame 14

A screenshot from TIME’s video interview, published by Too Young to Wed. The author of the individual video frame is not identified. The image and its embedded titles are preserved in full. The public 1974 × 1317 px file is preserved unchanged. No free licence is stated.

Source Too Young to Wed / TIME File on WITNESS · 1974 × 1317

Aisha looks at the camera with long dark hair, wearing pink clothing with embroidery. — Bibi Aisha in Maryland, February 2023. Stephanie Sinclair’s portrait for TIME.Stephanie Sinclair for TIME

Sources and provenance for frame 15

Photographer: Stephanie Sinclair. TIME’s caption supplies the month and location. The complete published 2400 × 1601 px file is preserved unchanged; no free licence is stated.

TIME: interview and portrait caption TIME, 2023 File on WITNESS · 2400 × 1601

All sources for this story

World Press Photo: portrait and contest record Jodi Bieber: making the portrait Jessica Ravitz / CNN: Aesha’s life after evacuation CNN: reconstructive treatment, December 2012 Angelina Jolie / TIME: Aisha’s 2023 interview Too Young to Wed: the story in 2023 Aryn Baker / TIME: the original 2010 report

Bibi Aisha: Life Beyond the Cover

Photographs and documents

1. Bibi Aisha

2. A removable prosthesis

3. With Esther Hyneman

4. With Ariela Perlman

5. Studying

6. An English lesson

7. With Jamila

8. With Mati Arsala

9. On a swing

10. Treatment in December 2012

11. Injury and treatment

12. The donor site

13. Before another operation

14. The 2023 interview

15. Aisha in 2023