Thomas Cole Contemporary Photos of Central Asia

Contemporary Photos of Central Asia Views of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Khyber Pass, Peshawar and Kabul
These photos were taken in the late 1970s and early 1980s, primarily, in both Kabul and Peshawar. Ordinary scenes are depicted including street vendors, ordinary people and famed landscape. Taken at a point in time, they reflect that time, one of turmoil but nothing compared to what goes on nowadays. One can look back upon this time with real nostalgia, unthinkable at the time they were taken. Also featured are photos of the Nau Roz or New Years celebrations in Kundunz, northern Afghanistan. The final nine images depict life in Kandahar, the traditional center of Pashtun urban life and the base of the present day Taliban resistance. Historical Photos of Central Asia Archive - The Women of Ashgabat

Nomads in Afghanistan

"Nothing could give me a more vivid picture of nomadic life; and when afterwards I questioned a Kirghiz woman respecting this mode of existence, she answered laughingly, 'We shall, I am certain, never be so indolent as you Mollahs and remain sitting days and days in one place! Man must keep moving; for behold, sun, moon, stars, water, beasts, bird, fish, all are in movement; it is but the dead and the earth that remain in their place!" - Armenius Vambery from 'Travels in Central Asia'