Summer 2014

Viewfinder: Afghanistan

– Zack Stanton

An assortment of the best photos of life in Afghanistan in all its many facets.

A young girl poses for a photo in Farah City, Feb. 25, 2013.
U.S. Navy Photo by Lt. j.g. Matthew Stroup
Sadia, an 8-year-old Afghan girl, watches as Farah province Gov. Rahool Amin and other dignitaries arrive at the International Women's Day Celebration at the governor's compound, March 8, 2010.
U.S. Navy Photo By Master Sgt. Tracy DeMarco
Residents of Kabul live amongst the destruction caused by war, Feb. 6, 2002.
UN Photo by Eskinder Debebe
A group of Afghan women smoking opium, September 2005.
UN/UNODC Photo by Zalmal
Women sort pistachios by hand at a privately-owned factory in Herat, Afghanistan.
UN Photo by Eric Kanalstein
Colonel Jamila Bayaz, Afghanistan's first female police chief, answers the phone in her office in Kabul.
Photo by Justin Sutcliffe/Polaris
Students at a midwifery school in Nili, Afghanistan.
UN Photo by Eric Kanalstein
An Afghan boy at Gudham Shahar Camp in Mazar-i-Sharif, Dec. 1, 2001.
UN Photo by Luke Powell
In a small cave, a woman smokes heroin with her husband and son. Islam Qala, Afghanistan, June 13, 2012.
UN Photo by Eric Kanalstein
A mother and child, pictured at Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul, April 7, 2009.
UN Photo by Fardin Waezi
A group of Kuchi nomads walk through their camp in Bagram, Afghanistan, Sept. 12, 2009.
UN Photo by Eric Kanalstein
Children in a boys and girls school in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 23, 2011.
U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Stacey Haga
Two residents of Masklaskh, the largest refugee camp in Afghanistan, Feb. 1, 2002.
UN Photo by Eskinder Debebe
Men smoke heroin and “shisha” (a heroin-meth combination) inside a cave in the historic Citadel, the series of fortresses built by Alexander the Great, in Farah, Afghanistan.
UN Photo by Eric Kanalstein
Village members listen to an Afghan national army soldier ask them questions about enemy activity near Midoni, Khowst province, July 23, 2009.
U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith
Mother and child in an early-education class in the Kapisa Province, May 20, 2006.
UN Photo by Eskinder Debebe
Kubra, a seamstress, holds a dress she's working on.
Photo by Justin Sutcliffe/Polaris
Women covered by a single chador sort through pistachios by hand at a factory in Herat, June 7, 2012.
UN Photo by Eric Kanalstein
A Kabul street scene, Jan. 1, 1988.
UN Photo by John Isaac
At the Kabul Mili Boot Factory, a worker cuts off excess rubber from the sole of a boot. The factory makes combat boots for Afghan security forces.
U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Markus Maier
Afghan children await to be seen during a cooperative medical engagement by U.S. forces in Hutal's Maiwand District, Dec. 12, 2009.
U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Dayton Mitchell
On a snowdy day in Kabul, a poor man begs passersby for money, Feb. 6, 2008.
UN Photo by Basir Seerat
An Afghan national army soldier chats with local teenagers in Shinkay District, Zabul province, April 22, 2010.
U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Debra Richardson
A young Afghan girl eats a piece of candy given to her by coalition forces in the Maiwand district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Oct. 21, 2011.
U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Christopher Hammond
Hokomat Khan Golestan poses for a photo in front of a photo of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the fallen Northern Alliance leader, Nov. 26, 2010. Golestan was one of Massoud's generals during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and resistance against the Taliban.
U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Michael Reinsch
Afghan children wait to receive school supplies, Nov. 23, 2009.
U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Airman Felicia Juenke
An Afghan national army Air Corps MI-17 is loaded with election ballots for delivery ahead of the 2009 elections.
U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Thomas Dow
Afghan men listen as village elders speak during a shura [town meeting] in Saraw, July 28, 2011. Shuras are held every week to discuss local issues and deepen the ties between locals and the government.
U.S. Army Photo by Kaily Brown
Two Afghan citizens pray at Forward Operating Base Fenty in the Nangarhar province, March 19, 2012.
I.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Trey Harvey
An Afghan woman shows off her handmade crafts at a bazaar in Kabul that allows women vendors only, Jan. 28, 2011.
U.S. Navy Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ernesto Hernandez Fonte
Woman and children from the village of Dudarek wait for a humanitarian aid drop, Nov. 2, 2009.
U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Cohen
At a celebration of International Women’s Day, an Afghan girl blows bubbles, March 8, 2011.
ISAF Photo by Sgt. Chris Hargrevaes
Two Afghan women’s basketball teams sponsored by the Afghan Olympic Committee and Kabul City Mayor played an exhibition game as part of an International Youth Day celebration, Aug. 10, 2011.
U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Catherine Threat
Afghan children share school supplies they received from International Security Assistance Force members at the Kabul Female Prison and Detention Center in Kabul.
U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Nestor Cruz
An Afghan woman arrives at a local government meeting to discuss financial issues in Farah City, Farah province, Afghanistan, Sept. 18, 2012.
U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lovelady
Young Afghan girls and her mother pause for a photo while participating in a Women's Bazaar held on Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 3, 2013.
U.S. Army Photo by Maj. Meritt Phillips