Afghanistan

Rating:
Summary: The Spectre Of An Ancient Time
Review: In this exceptional volume Chris Steele-Perkins has distilled four separate travel adventures into an enormously effective photo-essay depicting Afghanistan at a time when the now ignominious Taliban were just taking hold of and consolidating their political power (c.1995). Although the book has as its focus unending war and the horrendous impact interminable armed conflict has had on the people of Afghanistan, what is remarkable in Steele-Perkin's work is how the daily pulse of ordinary life lived within a landscape of devastation and ruin manages consistently to emerge through the gloom. Because these wonderfully evocative images are indeed full of life! And full of the great beauty and mystery of the Afghan people. Two written essays (one by the photographer is a splendid travelogue) complement perfectly this accomplished portfolio of haunting images.