Overview
Chris Steele-Perkins first went to Afghanistan in 1994 on assignment for Medicins Sans Frontières. It had long held a place in his imagination, going back to the days of the Hippy Trail. The reality, as always, was completely different and infinitely more compelling: "It was heroic, beautiful, violent, twisted, gracious and tragic. The experience of being there works its way narcotically into one's being; an infection of the soul demanding that you return."These photographs are drawn from four trips Steele-Perkins made to Afghanistan during the course of four years. In the midst of a complex civil war, he captures the continuing cycles of everyday life. Images from the front line mingle with scenes of disrupted life in the fields, villages and towns; of an orphanage; of refugees and displaced families; of lapis lazuli miners; of someone picking up the pieces after the 1998 earthquake; of a cock fight and the horseback sport of bushkashi.
Chris Steele-Perkins became a freelance photographer in 1971, shortly after completing a Psychology degree at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and joined the Magnum agency eight years later. His major work has been in Britain, Central America, Lebanon, Africa and Afghanistan. He is presently working extensively in Japan. The work from Afghanistan was exhibited at the Perpignan Festival and is touring Britain.