“Afghanistan: Common Citizens, 2011 - 2018”
The timing for this collection’s exposure is important as the world remembers the third-year anniversary of the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021. Its presentation in August of each subsequent year underscores the collection’s significance.
These images of Afghanistan invite you to learn about an archaic culture that is perhaps new to you. The goal is for you to reduce your uncertainty about Afghans to then increase your appreciation of them. However, the best these images can do is inspire your empathy for a people who live exceedingly troubled lives.
Making these images began unintentionally in early January 2011 upon my arrival in Afghanistan as a defense contractor and advisor to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior. My travels to several provinces in the subsequent seven years slowly cultivated the importance of documenting such a unique country in perpetual war. Concerns for my safety and respect for the Afghan culture ironically limited the images I would make.
Guns and camo-clad soldiers so commonly depicted in other war zones are mostly excluded from this collection with intent. Instead, this collection provides an insight to the common Afghan citizen. “Found images” are also included with a modest nod to religious symbology or the solemn. A bit of irony is also included.
All images were made discreetly with a cell phone and frequently through tinted bullet-proof glass.
These first eight images are in the At the Gate series. They were made in the Provincial Headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan. This is where widows, the blind and wounded seek the Afghan government’s assistance. The gate led to a municipal compound where citizens would gather to resolve administrative matters similar to a Western courthouse. It is also through this gate that Afghan General Abdul Raziq, Police Chief, led operations against the Taliban. The General was later assassinated by his own guard in October 2018. He was small in stature but huge in his hatred for the Taliban.
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#5 My guard guides me left, as the little girl’s mother pulls her to my right to avoid me. We are leaving the Kandahar Provincial Headquarters. Afghan citizens mill around the gate’s entrance. Kandahar, Afghanistan.
#6 Self-portrait from the shadow.
#7 and #8 Bombers will sometimes dress as women.
The Gardener.
Always smiling.
The Contractor.
Everyone’s Grandfather.
The Interpreter.
Devout Muslim.
The Kabul Girl.
Ready to play.
A routine street scene on the outskirts of town. Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan.
A cold February day near the airport. Kabul, Afghanistan.
A widow looking for compensation. Her children wait patiently. Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan.
Wait for me! I’m stopped at the back gate at the Kabul International Airport, oddly abbreviated “KIA.” Kabul, Afghanistan.
Hauling coal that will warm him twice. Kabul, Afghanistan.
From inside a casualty collection point where I spent too much time. Camp Stone, Herat, Afghanistan.
The Proprietor-picker. A nice guy with a serious habit. Herat, Afghanistan.
Did she make it? A morning scene after a long night of rocket fire. Kandahar, Afghanistan.
My gurney or backboard. It traveled with me and was a reminder of what might happen. Camp Arena, Herat, Afghanistan.
Window fashion for the “elite.” Kabul, Afghanistan.
Showing off a fancy dress. Kandahar, Afghanistan.
A black-winged stilt taking a pause during migration. Kandahar, Afghanistan.
It’s not pork. Kabul, Afghanistan.
Colonel Rahmatullah’s voting card, 2014. As a murderer on his president’s security detail, he was sent to me for advice on personnel matters. Herat, Afghanistan.
A Muslim cemetery. My Croatian guards commented how “Christians don’t do it that way.” It was pure irony that a back-lit cross illuminated this scene on a cold day in Kabul, Afghanistan.