A Book Project

My images of Afghanistan look at the war-torn country starting from late 2001 covering a dozen years of war. From my very first visit I was drawn to Afghanistan’s astounding landscape along with a story that was both compelling and challenging. I returned often for the ongoing news coverage but found myself absorbed with the human condition, and the Afghan diversity of daily life. As a female photojournalist I have focused on stories that bring a voice to those who have none especially concerning the plight of the Afghan women who continue to persevere in the face of extreme difficulties and human rights abuses.

$KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - APRIL 10, 2015: Widow Naiz Bibi claims she is 68 but really can\'t remember clearly. She has had a very hard life, blinded in one eye she fled up north to the IDP camps of Kabul from the war torn province of Helmand. Naiz barely survived after she lost 7 members of her family during a NATO air strike including her husband, daughter and 2 sons. The eight that survived are now helping to take care of her since she is in bad health, living in the squalid Nasaji Bagrami camp outside of Kabul for thousands of war refugees.$
$KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -APRIL 1: Young Afghan women cheer as they attend an election campaign rally for Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani in Kabul, April 1, 2014. Afghans will go to the polls to vote on April 5th in Afghanistan\'s Presidential election. The election is the third presidential poll since the fall of the Taliban. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/ for the Wall Street Journal)$
$KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -MARCH 31: Afghan women cheer attending an election rally for Afghan vice presidential candidate Habiba Sarabi in Kabul, March 31, 2014. Afghans will go to the polls to vote on April 5th in Afghanistan\'s Presidential election. The election is the third presidential poll since the fall of the Taliban. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/ for the Wall Street Journal)$
$KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 22, 2015: Relatives friends and women\'s rights activists grieve at the home of Farkhunda , 27, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul and was violently beaten and set on fire onThursday. She was attacked for allegedly burning a copy of the holy Quran which was false. Kabul police have detained nine people related to Farkhnuda’s case. President Ashraf Ghani has appointed a delegation to probe the incident. The Imam of Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque was denied permission to take part at Farkhunda’s funeral following his remarks on her death.(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ for the Wall Street Journal)$
$KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 22, 2015: Relatives friends and women\'s rights activists carry the casket of Farkhunda , 27, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul and was violently beaten and set on fire onThursday. She was attacked for allegedly burning a copy of the holy Quran which was false. Kabul police have detained nine people related to Farkhnuda’s case. President Ashraf Ghani has appointed a delegation to probe the incident. The Imam of Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque was denied permission to take part at Farkhunda’s funeral following his remarks on her death.(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ for the Wall Street Journal)$
$Faizabad, Badakshan : A pregnant woman lays on a table waiting for a caesarean section ( C-section) in the operation room at the Badakshan Provincial hospital. Crises put pregnant women at greater risk due to sudden loss of medical support, trauma, malnutrition, disease and exposure to violence. Many mothers are having children too young along with diet, and extreme poverty they face huge challenges having a healthy pregnancy. Afghan women also deal with vitamin D deficiency from staying indoors and being covered up. In the rural parts of the country, in remote areas Afghan women deliver with no skilled help because women cannot leave home without a male and there aren\'t enough midwives to help every mother in need given Afghanistan\'s poor infrastructure.June 2, 2011(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)$
$KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -JUNE 19: Farzana sits on the streets of Kabul begging, she sits outside a bread shop waiting for handouts. She said her husband died as a solider with the Afghan National Army (ANA). More than three decades of uninterrupted war in Afghanistan has mass produced widows who live in extreme poverty, often seen begging in Kabul\'s traffic choked streets. According to the UN nearly half of the children in Kabul have lost a parent. The overall number of widows is not known, but it is thought to range from several hundred thousand to 2 million. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/ for the Wall Street Journal)$
$Sangina, mourns as she is told her grand daughter won\'t survive. Critical ill Fauzia is 8 years, in a coma with Meningitis and Tuberculosis in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Boost hospital in Lashkah Gar, Afghanistan. Fauzia\'s mother died six months prior from complications due to child birth. June 22, 2014$
$KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -JUNE 5 : June 5, 2011, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Cricket enthusiasm continues to grow as Out of the Ashes, a documentary film about the Afghan cricket team\'s efforts to qualify for the sport\'s World Cup, gains more attention and awards. In the early 1990s, cricket fast grew as a popular amongst Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. Five years later in 1995 the Afghanistan Cricket Federation was formed. Under the Taliban rule, like all sports, cricket was originally banned, but cricket became an exception in 2000 and the following year the Afghanistan Cricket Federation was elected as an affiliate member of the ICC.(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)$