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Umida Ahmedova, also known as Umida Ahkmedova, is a photographer and photojournalist working and living in central Asia. She currently resides in Uzbekistan and is married to filmmaker Oleg Karpov.

Work
As a photographer she has participated in exhibitions addressing urban and rural issues and has collaborated on a number of film and book projects including the presentation of the short film The Burden of Virginity. As an Associated Press photographer, her images have been published in the photography sections of the online editions of The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Globe and Mail. As a photojournalist and artist she has worked on various projects dedicated to exploring issues of human rights. In the course of her work she has documented the various traditions, disparate cultures and every day events within the modern borders of Uzbekistan.

Arrest and Criminal Charges
On November 17 2009 she was summoned by Nodir Akhmadzhan, investigator of the Tashkent city police department and accused of defamation and of "insult and slander of the Uzbek nation." These charges against her and others are due in part to participation on a project sponsored by the Swiss Embassy Gender Program. One of the works, Women and men: from dawn till dusk documents aspects of life in rural Uzbekistan. On December 16 2009, criminal charges where filed against her due to her involvement in the aforementioned project as well as other gender and human rights media projects including The Burden of Virginity. The criminal charges carry a possible sentence of prison for up to six months, or 2-3 years of forced labor.