These portraits were taken in Kabul, Afghanistan, on October 2006, with one of the 19th century wooden box cameras that street photographers still use throughout the country.
The protagonists are day laborers – electricians, carpenters, masons, plumbers, etc. – who hail from various regions and belong to different ethnic groups. They all gather in a plaza in Kabul waiting to be hired for reconstruction tasks. At this time, when the war and reconstruction in Afghanistan was considered by many as a “success story” in stark contrast to the Iraq War, these men told of the hardships of migrant life and the difficulties in earning a living.

Afghanistan, 2006.

These portraits were taken in Kabul, Afghanistan, on October 2006, with one of the 19th century wooden box cameras that street photographers still use throughout the country.
The protagonists are day laborers – electricians, carpenters, masons, plumbers, etc. – who hail from various regions and belong to different ethnic groups. They all gather in a plaza in Kabul waiting to be hired for reconstruction tasks. At this time, when the war and reconstruction in Afghanistan was considered by many as a “success story” in stark contrast to the Iraq War, these men told of the hardships of migrant life and the difficulties in earning a living.

Afghanistan, 2006.