Parting Shot Unfair

I was surprised to read Pam Schulz’s letter (“Parting Shot,” Feb. 17), in which she accuses me of cultural insensitivity by climbing to the head of a Buddha statue in Bamian. That requires an explanation.

Our trip to Bamian in 1965 was taken as an assignment from the Ministry of Public Works in Afghanistan, where I was employed as an architect and urban planner. The main purpose was to prepare an inventory of remnants of frescoes on the walls and ceilings of several grottoes on the way to the Buddha statue’s head.

Led by two Afghan guides, we took a strenuous climb to the top of the Buddha statue through a network of corridors and niches inside the mountain, taking as many photos as possible. The most important were the decaying medallion frescoes above and around the Buddha’s head.

Standing at the top of the statue’s head, I prepared the photo inventory of existing frescoes, to be used for the future plan of their preservation by the Afghan government. My last photo from this assignment was the one printed in My Best Shot.

ADAM BERESTYNSKI

Laguna Beach