Images of Afghanistan

August 13, 2008 9:01 PM

A few hundred photos of Afghanistan by a Canadian photographer. Some from the 1970s, some since 2000. Just a reminder there's more to the country than a testing ground for military technology and terrorist tactics. Some beautiful images and some scenes of everyday life. Accompanied by the photographer's personal commentary.
posted by binturong (14 comments total)

It's a shame the images aren't bigger.
posted by dunkadunc at 9:39 PM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

I liked this quote:

Marcus Aurelius did not approve of quail fighting, because it was primarily an excuse for gambling. This spectator sport is different from cock fighting, outlawed but still occasionally practiced in the USA and elsewhere in the West, just as Afghan dog fights are not the bloody affairs that were dog fighting in England in earlier centuries. These people have a civilization that is several thousand years old.

I saw an exhibition on Bamiyan artwork at a small museum (you were close enough to touch the statues if you wanted) back home in rural Japan, and it was pretty amazing.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:46 PM on August 13, 2008

Jan Chipchase, senior ethnographic researcher with Nokia Design is currently in Kabul, Afghanistan. Here are his daily updates of daily life and things that caught his eye.
posted by infini at 10:15 PM on August 13, 2008

Shenanigans. I can't believe that there is not one of opium production. That is what they do there. 95% of the worlds heroin production originates in Afghanistan.
posted by Mr_Zero at 10:40 PM on August 13, 2008

Great images and the accompanying text is often very interesting. Thanks!
posted by Onanist at 1:05 AM on August 14, 2008

some very beautiful pictures by someone who obviously loves Afghanistan very much.
posted by grubby at 4:43 AM on August 14, 2008

Thank you!
posted by YouRebelScum at 6:07 AM on August 14, 2008

Wow. Speechless. What an amazing set of pictures.
posted by nax at 9:06 AM on August 14, 2008

I really enjoyed the photos.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:40 AM on August 14, 2008

Shenanigans. I can't believe that there is not one of opium production. That is what they do there. 95% of the worlds heroin production originates in Afghanistan.

"In 2000 I traveled widely in Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan and during that time I saw no opium growing anywhere. In 2003 it was everywhere. On the day when I took this photograph I saw it growing in the walled garden of an aid agency. They said that it seemed unfair to deny their gardner the money, since everyone else in the area was growing it."

These are beautiful. I've spent hours looking at them. Thank you for posting this.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:56 PM on August 14, 2008

Good find! I've really enjoyed both the photos and the informative captions.
posted by meringue at 11:17 PM on August 14, 2008

Afghanistan's Hidden Treasures: How a trove of priceless antiquities survived.
posted by homunculus at 12:42 PM on August 15, 2008

Security fears paralyze Kabul
posted by homunculus at 12:43 PM on August 15, 2008

Taliban wages war on aid groups: Wednesday's ambush by the militants killed three Western aid workers and their Afghan driver. It's part of an apparent bid to rid Afghanistan of foreign aid workers.
posted by homunculus at 12:44 PM on August 15, 2008