AFGHANISTAN
IN A NEW LIGHT
In the years after the 2001 U.S. invasion and the ouster of the Taliban regime, Associated Press photographer Rodrigo Abd spent months on assignment in Afghanistan and learned how to use a traditional Afghan “box camera,” a handmade camera and darkroom in one. Abd returned this year with an idea: to employ the nearly disappeared Afghan art form to document how life has changed in peacetime, for better and worse, two years after U.S. troops left and the Taliban returned to power.
The curious-looking device resembles little more than a large black box on a tripod. Known as a kamra-e-faoree, or instant camera, it’s a handmade wooden camera and darkroom in one.
read moreWomen have experienced the starkest changes since the Taliban's return. They must adhere to a strict dress code, are banned from most job and are denied simple pleasures such as visiting a park or going to a restaurant.
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Since the end of the insurgency against U.S.-led forces, security has improved. But with peace came an economy in freefall.
read moreAfter sweeping across Afghanistan and retaking power in August 2021 as U.S. troops withdrew, longtime Taliban militants are now adjusting to life in peacetime.
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From the darkness inside a handmade wooden box camera, images of Afghanistan ripple to life: a family enjoying an outing in a swan boat on a lake; child laborers toiling in brick factories; women erased by all-covering veils; armed young men with fire in their eyes.
read moreRead the full story. Learn more about the camera.
This project was produced with funding from the Pulitzer Center.
The Associated Press is responsible for all content.