An Afghan Photographer’s Intimate Look at Everyday Life in His Country

I still remember the story of The Kite Runner. Afghanistan had a rich literary culture prior to the Taliban. It would be wonderful to see it return with photographs. This country was not always run by primitive warlords. I have seen photos which show a country of great beauty. The assassination of Massoud in Mazar-i-sharif was a tragic betrayal of the potential good leader our troops supported.

These are beautiful images, and Mr. Usyan is a very talented photographer. What the story did not cover, and what would interest me, is how much post processing is applied to the images. Are they put through Lightroom and Photoshop, for example? If so, is the processing done by the photographer himself or by the clients (Agence France Presse and New York Times)? Having admired many of the NYTimes very artisitic photographs and the astounding animations of which they sometimes become a part, I believe that NYTimes has an entire department of experts in visual effects, animation, high dynamic range photography, compositing, and other post processing techniques. In that case, the question arises to what extent the final image reflects the creative vision of the person photographing, and to what extent it embodies the sensitivities of the person molding it in post.

I wish to commend the Times for this article, as I hope that such reporting will help to counter the stereotypes about Afghanistan that are held by many Americans. The Afghan people, who have suffered from 40 years of almost constant warfare, share many of the same hopes and aspirations of other peoples around the world. That they have managed to bear these burdens while living their daily lives is a testament to their strength and optimism. And I have to note that I have encountered more courtesy and respect for elders from Afghans with whom I have interacted than I see in daily life in the United States. A final thought - the young people of Afghanistan have entirely different perspectives on life than many of their elders; they are the hope of Afghanistan and deserve our support, not our abandonment.

These are very beautiful images of Afghanistan, so different from those that we normally see in press reports. It’s a shame that those other images have come to be what the world accepts as being Afghani, instead of these. If perception is reality, then I feel very sorry for the Afghani people. That said, it’s now time for the people of Afghanistan to determine the kind of country that it will become. For too long, outsiders have tried to force the Afghanis to be one thing or another. The challenge that they face is to find their real national identity.

Mr. Usyan's handsome images are those of a skilled story teller with good timing, and a sharp eye. They also attest to the astonishing democratization of a medium that, before the digital revolution, required technical skills and discipline that once took a good deal of time, energy and commitment. The marriage of the camera and the cell phone has made photography both ubiquitous and wonderful, opening up closed societies, who once feared and loathed the power of the camera's all seeing eye. It is to be fervently hoped that the power of this young photographer's images will be beneficial his country, himself and us, the appreciative audience for his work.

Such beautiful work that captures the strange magic of the country : although I have never been there, I had a boyfriend from there and came to be fascinated by a culture and place both complex and simple, also proud and ancient ... hardship, beauty, and intensity it seems in every moment - I especially love the photo of the horseman : like a living Persian miniature archetype of all that is Afghan. May Afghanistan also find peace ... SOON and forever.

I visited MES for 3 weeks during my first tour in Afghanistan, and fell in love with it - I honestly wish I could go back. It's one of the few painless memories I have of that tour, and it's a true delight to recognize many of the places in these photographs, even some I thought I had forgotten. I'll be searching out more of his photographs now.

Lovely images. I noticed most of the photographs are presented in a square format which immediately takes me to the medium format film cameras of yore such as the Rolleiflex and Hasselblad. I'm not certain it's relevant, but I'd like to know if beyond the sophisticated lighting, Mr. Usyan was using an analog or digital camera. If he was using a digital camera, then the images were cropped in post production which is "kinda" critically problematic. In contemplating these type of images, those are important considerations especially at this juncture in the medium when interest in analog film photography is on the rise.

Beautiful, serene pictures. Certainly provides a different viewpoint than what is typically presented in the news. I hope to see more of his work published. It is important to understand daily lie goes on in such war-torn places.

I love these photos..thank you for publishing. It is so helpful to see real people going about their day, and it reminds me that is has not always been, or will always be a war zone.

Where are the women?

This is the work of a master photographer. Thank you!

Just people, trying to live meaningful lives.

Exit of our troops from Afghanistan is long overdue. Having said that, President Trump wants to rush it so that he can claim some political points before 2020 elections. This is a classic example of how our leaders, be it Bill and Hillary, Bush Jr. Or Trump play their politics often at the cost of other marginalized countries and their people. I hope we end our troop involvement more cautiously and support Afghan people in development even after the withdrawal.

Absolutely Gorgeous Photos....Thank you...

Re: first photo...perhaps nothing bridges cultures better than shared love of a good blowout.

Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing.

one of the only positive things about the US involvement in afghanistan after 9/11 was the training of a new generation of Afghan photographers and journalists (men and women).

Many of these images are superb and show a different perspective. For someone who came to photography by tragic happenstance and only recently, they’re even more impressive. Bravo. Keep going and sharing fascinating and beautiful images of your beautiful country.

What an amazing story!

Having visited Mazar-i Sharif several times while deployed there with the USAF, these pictures are superb, and remind me so much of my time there. When I visited, the US provided logistics support for a make-shift hospital of 34 tents a few miles east of the city. This hospital (run at the time by Jordanian army medical personnel) was the only functioning hospital in the entire district, and served over a million Afghani people. A great good-news story for the US in the aftermath of helping local resistance forces wrench control of Mazir-i Sharif from the Taluban.

Very interesting. For me, the last photo, the broom seller pushing a wheelbarrow full of brooms through a dust storm, symbolizes the arc of recent history in Afghanistan.