Below are samples of photos we took while we were in Afghanistan. The photos were taken over a period of three years (2006-2008):

Portraits

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Afghan people enjoy being photographed. Women like to be photographed by friends and family, but rarely in public by strangers, at least that has been our experience. If you are not sure, just do not take pictures of people or use a 400 mm telescope if you really need to take one. It is wise to first ask permission and we always do so.

Especially children enjoyed checking out the results on the LCD of the camera. We often would bring printed photos to the families as a gift a few weeks later along with toys for the kids. The first seven pictures in this series were taken by Bhuvana Anand and Claus Frost-Hansen.

Panoramas

The panoramas were mostly taken from the hillsides in Kabul. Please click on this link to see full 360 high resolution panoramas we took in Kabul.

Landscapes

Some of the images were taken from a helicopter in Ghazni (South of Kabul) and just North of Kabul.

Daily Life

These are just a few shots we took while we were on assignment. I particularly like the children in the community center (the last photo), where women taught voluntarily during the day.

At Work

These photos were mostly taken at state-owned factories, including an alcohol factory (for medical purpuses only!), a central bakery and a a truck maintenance facility.

Aerial

More images from a helicopter and a commercial jet. Most photos are made above Kabul and a few in Ghazni.

Signs

Afghanistan is a country of signs.

Shops

Since the fall of the Taliban, the number of small shops has increased dramatically, from small bakeries to book stores and real estate agents. We would normally procure goods for our compounds from the small shop keepers in our neighborhood.

Residential

Over 80 percent of people live in informal settlements in Afghanistan. Often, mud and wood are used as primary building materials, although more frequently people have started to used concrete, brick and metal for their houses - an indication that people are willing to invest more in their housing.

Bonus: Images from 1925 we found in a shop downtown Kabul

One of our senior advisers found this collection of images from 1925. You can download the images (compressed) in one zip file here: Afghan Photos from 1925 (3.47 MB) or please contact us if you would like to have the original scans in high resolution format -  we would be more than happy to share these with you and mail you a cd-rom for free.