Paula Bronstein Photojournalist

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. 

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  • 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.
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  • MAYMANA, AFGHANISTAN -APRIL 2: Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah steps off his plane to greet supporters for an campaign rally in Maymana, Faryab province, Afghanistan on April 2, 2014. In Kabul today a suicide bomber wearing a military uniform killed six police officers inside the Interior Ministry compound. This is the latest violence as the Taliban continues to try and disrupt this weekend'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 -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)
  • MAYMANA, AFGHANISTAN -APRIL 2: Afghan male supporters cheer as they attend a campaign rally for presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah in Maymana, Faryab province, Afghanistan on April 2, 2014. In Kabul today a suicide bomber wearing a military uniform killed six police officers inside the Interior Ministry compound. This is the latest violence as the Taliban continues to try and disrupt this weekend'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)
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  • KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -APRIL 3: A woman wearing a burqa tries to keep warm as Kabul prepares for the elections on April 3, 2014. Yesterday in Kabul a suicide bomber wearing a military uniform killed six police officers inside the Interior Ministry compound. This was the latest violence as the Taliban vows to disrupt this weekend'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)
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  • 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)
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  • A boy hides in a field of poppy flowers where he is helping his father who is a farmer in Badakhshan province. Most farmers receive 50% of the harvest profits from the opium collected. Afghanistan is still the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world, ahead of Burma (Myanmar).  Currently 1kg of opium equals about $200 US. Opium production in Afghanistan has been on the rise since U.S. occupation started in 2001. May 24, 2011
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  • Zaher, 14, smokes heroin along side his heroin addicted mother Sabera and her 11 year-old sister, Gulparai, at their home in Kabul.  The children began smoking after watching their widowed mother, a heroin addict for 4 years. August 27, 2007
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  • Eid Muhammad, 70 stands on the balcony overlooking the hills of Kabul.  Millions of Afghans live in informal settlements occupied without a formal deed, on land with unclear legal ownership. This lack of a functioning land management system, Afghan and international experts say, looms as one of the most serious obstacles to the country’s economic development.Nov.21, 2014 Paula Bronstein/ The Wall Street Journal
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  • 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)
  • HERAT, AFGHANISTAN-OCTOBER 21: Mariam, age 20, 9 months pregnant shows her scars on her belly October 21, 2004 from from self-immolation inflicted 3 months ago when she was devastated by an abusive, violent marriage October 21,2004 in Herat, Afghanistan. She poured household fuel on herself and spent 28 days in the hospital. She now lives with her mother and her husband is moving back in with her and her 2 year old daughter. (photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
  • The burned body of a 22 year old a self immolation victim, lays on a bed at the Herat hospital November 16, 2006 in Herat, Afghanistan. Sima Gul complained that she was too lonely because her husband was forced to work in Iran to make money for her family.
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  • 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
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  • KABUL,  AFGHANISTAN -JUNE 3 : Afghan women pray during friday prayers at the Madinatul-Elm mosque on June 3, 2011 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan women have completely separate sections inside the mosque from the men for prayer however in many parts of the country where violence and the Taliban are a way of life women only pray at home.(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)
  • KABUL-AFGHANISTAN-JULY 31: Afghan groom Qais Habibi,19, patiently waits inside a Lincoln limousine for his new bride to finish getting ready at the bridal salon in Kabul July 31, 2007 Afghanistan. Shams Limousine is busy on most days during the busy wedding season renting for 150 USD for 10 hours, shipped from Los Angeles are renting for what he believes is the lowest rate in the world.
  •  Najila Ahmadi the bride to be gets her wedding dress ready at the local beauty parlor where family help get her dressed for the big engagement party in Kabul. January 4, 2001
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  • Bibi Adela, age15, from Khost gets her wound treated on her amputated leg at the International Red Cross Orthopedic (ICRC) rehabilitation center November 23, 2009 Kabul, Afghanistan. Bibi Adela lost her leg below the knee from a rocket attack 5 months ago that killed her sister and brother, injuring her mother as well. A recent U.N. report has described 2009 as the deadliest year in terms of civilian casualties in Afghanistan  since the start of the U.S.-led war against Taliban in the country.
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  • GHARMBOLOQ,  AFGHANISTAN -JUNE 12  :  Hava Gul, 70, waits to see a doctor  complaining about her left eye at a local mosque made into a makeshift mobile health clinic June 12, 2011, in the village of Gharmboloq, in Shahidan district, Afghanistan.  Mobile health units (MHU) employed by the Agency for Assistance and Development of Afghanistan (AADA)  supported by the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) cover communities that are inaccessible, underserved and underprivileged. There are six mobile health teams working in Bamiyan, Yakawlang, Waras, Panjab and Kahmard districts. Each mobile health unit consists of a doctor, a mid-wife, and a vaccinator. Their mandate is to reach approximately 100,000 individuals in 400 villages providing free medical health care.(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)
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  • 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)
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  • KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 20: Afghan boys hold hands as they swing on a merry-go-round celebrating the first day of Eid-al-Fitr, a three day holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan September 20, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. During the holiday Afghans visit friends and family exchanging gifts and feasting. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
  • CHAGHCHARAN, AFGHANISTAN-OCTOBER 21: Afghan school girls enjoy some recreation during a school break October 21, 2002 in Chagcharan, located in central western Afghanistan. At an altitude of 2,200 meters, Chaghcharan is the capitol of Ghor province which is the size of Switzerland. The area is mainly Tajik with a population of approximately 700,000 people. Many of the women cover their heads but traditionally do not wear burqas.
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  • An Afghan girl who lives in the caves of Bamiyan, Afghanistan sits in front of the destroyed Buddha statue in Bamiyan, Afghanistan on February 19,2002. The ancient Buddhist statue was blown up by the Taliban in 2001. Buddha of Bamiyan,  230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters.Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
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  • COVERING THE WORLD
  • A DEVASTATING WAR IN UKRAINE
  • AFGHANISTAN BETWEEN HOPE AND FEAR - THE BOOK
  • UKRAINE'S ELDERLY: LEFT BEHIND BY WAR
  • UKRAINE BALLET: DANCE DURING WARTIME
  • ROHINGYA: STATELESS AND UNWANTED
  • GAZA: CRIPPLED FOR LIFE
  • LESBOS: THE REFUGEE MIGRATION
  • SILENT VICTIMS OF A FOREVER WAR
  • FEMALE MARINES IN AFGHANISTAN
  • ACID VIOLENCE: STOLEN FACES
  • CLIMATE CHANGE: NATURAL DISASTERS
  • DISPLACED BY WAR SOUTH SUDAN
  • MONGOLIA: CHANGING LANDSCAPE
  • BHUTAN: THE KING AND HIS PEOPLE
  • CORPORATE, INDUSTRIAL - Mongolia
  • BURMA: TURMOIL AND POLITICS
  • INDONESIA'S MENTAL HEALTH: Living In Chains
  • About Paula
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    • Political Turmoil
  • Agent Orange: Vietnam's Legacy
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    • Pakistan floods
    • The Displaced
  • Contact
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