A dance leader is singing wedding songs. Songs are about the Badakshan and Pamir Mountains, who were there before the rise of the Tajik state. A wedding ceremony takes place at the bride’s home. If the young couple comes from the same village, a ceremony starts at a bride’s house and afterwards moves to the groom’s house.
The young couple at the wedding table. They stay there all evening long. They can’t show their happiness as they as supposed to feign sadness as they leave their family homes. The bride was taught all her life long how to become a good wife and a perfect house wife / Istaravshan, Northen Tajikistan
A bride talking to her bridesmaid. During the wedding reception a young couple cannot be seen to enjoy themselves. They don’t dance or smile. They feign sadness as they leave their family homes / Istaravshan, Northen Tajikistan
Freshta lives in Psang village in Yaghnob Valley. She is still a child but childhood in this part of the world lasts only moments. From an early age the division of roles is evident. Everyone has a task from which he or she learns responsibility. Only the youngest are free. In the morning kids take cattle into the fields, then they take care of their younger brothers and sisters. Afterwards they go to school. Once they are back, they help in fields or with the housework. At the end of a day, they take the cattle back home. In the evening girls help their mother with cooking and other housework / Psang, Yaghnob Valley
Beauty saloon, Faizabad 2011 A Hairdresser takes care of his client, The other massages his client beard. There is a long and proud tradition of beauty salons in Afghanistan, which were strictly forbidden during Taliban rule. Nowadays they are taking back their former glamour. It is not only a hairdresser but also a meeting place.
UNICEF boy, Wakhan Corridor 2011 A blind boy at a checkpoint
Kabul is a place to be. A woman walking in one of the main street of Kabul. On the wall, Banksys anti-war project. Kabul is a place to be. Anything is possible because everything has to be rebuilt. The city attracts high level war specialists as well as fabulous artists.
An afghan feeds doves in front of the Blue Mosque, Mazar-i-Sharif 2012 It is a peaceful, sunny day in Mazar-i-Sharif. An afghan woman comes to a mosque to pray feeding the pigeons afterword. All the pigeons in Mazar are white. There is a legend which says that every pigeon that sits once on the dome of mosque will become white within a few days.
Post-war games, Faizabad 2011 A carrousel is constructed from used bomb shells with children sitting and playing on it. It’s Eid, the end of Ramadan. A time of family and time of joy. Everybody comes to have a ride on carousel and for a while to forget about war. The owner starts turning the carousel and he throws a coin on the ground, the children stretch to reach the coin. The first one wins.
Match at the Shah, Kabul 2012 The kids from Hazara neighborhood play football in front of the Palace of the Shah. Life goes on despite the continuing war.
Yankee go home! Kabul Graffiti written on the wall of one of the main streets in Kabul. On the eve of the departure of the coalition army, Afghans have questions about the meaning and effects of the intervention. Opinions on the matter are sharply divided. One side wants
green eyes, kashmir // 2007
Faria, kashmir // 2007

All images © Karolina Samborska

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