In October 2010, Simon Norfolk began a series of photographs in Afghanistan, taking his cue from the work of nineteenth-century British photographer John Burke, who photographed the second Anglo-Afghan war, 1878-1880. "The reason I am here, is to articulate my anger about what's happening in this war, and the brutality that's being visited on Afghanistan by barbarians, imperialists. The beauty is just a vehicle. If I thought I could get across the points I want to make without beauty, then I would dump beauty tomorrow. "Ten sorry, miserable years have gone by. Ten years of warfare, tens of thousands of Afghans murdered, lots of Europeans and Americans killed as well, half a trillion dollars spent, billions wasted, and nothing achieved, nothing, nothing, nothing achieved." See also: www.simonnorfolk.com
http://www.simonnorfolk.com/burkenorfolk/conversation.html
Almost no one today shoots group portraits – I wonder why?
I decided to follow Burke’s lead and make a portrait of the city by making portraits of the citizens of the city. In his time Kabul consisted of just Afghans and a few British soldiers. Today the city has been almost completely internationalised by NGOs; returning émigrés; fast-buck contractors and (the paymasters of them all) the foreign embassies and ISAF. Afghans are set to one side, the 'Internationals' are the decision makers in this town now – the Ministries rubber-stamp decisions made in the US Embassy which is now a small city in it's own right.
Did you know the Embassy is building it's own Sheraton?
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