Ohio State students will have the opportunity to observe the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan through the lens of Associated Press photographer Charles Rex Arbogast.

At 7 p.m. tonight in the main theater of Sullivant Hall, Arbogast will present a slide show of photos from his 30 day assignment this summer in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Arbogast, an OSU graduate, visited Ithaca College last week to present his photos, and said he is excited to share his experiences tonight at his alma mater.

Photography has been Arbogast’s passion since junior high school, and he said he wanted to work for the AP all his life.

Arbogast began working freelance for the AP while attending North High School in Columbus. During high school, Arbogast got his photographic start in Ohio Stadium photographing an OSU football game.

“I used to sneak into the games when I was a kid,” Arbogast said. “OSU holds a special place in my heart.”

Arbogast has covered a wide range of events, including 12 years of the Miss America Pageant, the 2000 campaigns of Bill Bradley and Al Gore, and the Florida recounts.

“Charles has done a little bit of everything. He works hard and is an aggressive photographer and newsman. That’s probably why he ended up in Afghanistan,” said Gary Gardiner, AP Ohio photo editor and Arbogast’s former co-worker.

In mid-June, Arbogast began his assignment in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Arbogast said the AP was rotating photographers and writers on a 30-day cycle.

Arbogast said he was not frightened while in Pakistan and Afghanistan and that the normal, everyday people were extremely friendly.

“The things I fought the most were the heat and boredom,” Arbogast said.

However, Arbogast said he was always concerned about security.

“I was very conscious of what could happen at any given moment,” Arbogast said.

Arbogast took a variety of photos while in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including images for his two photo essays, “The Road to Kandahar” and “The Kids of Kandahar.”

“I knew going to Afghanistan. At that point, it was going to be a totally feature-oriented story unless big news broke out,” Arbogast said.

Big news did break out when on July 1, Arbogast received a tip from a source in Afghanistan that an engagement party in Kandahar was bombed.

Arbogast was the first to bring the news of the bombing to the world with his photos and interviews of survivors at the Kandahar hospital.

Tonight, Arbogast will present his photos in four sections – daily features, general news photos, photo essays and photos from the accidental bombing of the engagement party.

Arbogast said he is looking forward to sharing his photos with OSU students and that he hopes his photos will provoke intellectual debate.

“I believe wholeheartedly in sharing my experiences on an academic level,” Arbogast said. “I have a love affair with my job. I’m one of those people who say, ‘I can’t believe I’m getting paid to do this.’ “

Ardine Nelson, College of the Arts chair, is also looking forward to Arbogast’s presentation.

“It is of course exciting to see our graduates be successful and this presents a rather unique opportunity for our students to discuss not only the photographic work but world implications of our actions,” said Nelson.

The event is open to all students, and admission is free.