AFGHANISTANISM brings together photographs taken between 2010 and 2022 with quotes from fellow foreigners ‘visiting’ Afghanistan over the last two centuries.

When we stopped on long shadeless stretches, simple peasants joined us and shared their melons. But we seemed to be in a land without women!

Annemarie Schwarzenbach, 1939

The work questions what can be achieved as an outsider, not only as an occupying army attempting to impose a way of living, but also as a photographer trying to make sense of it all. Neither succeeding.

The project began during the height of Obama’s surge and continues into the first year of the Taliban’s return to power.

Our evacuation of the country resembled almost as much the retreat of an army defeated…

Chaplain George R. Gleig, 1843

From the postscript:

“Most photographs in this book were taken when I was not on assignment but during the thousands of hours I spent walking with no specific goal or direction in mind. I watched as life continued with resilience and courage but also with creativity and humour, in defiance of all that opposed it.

Perhaps there is something violent in photographing a foreign country and its people who are not your own, while receiving party invites asking for ‘no local nationals, please’. Bearing witness, sure, but it’s hard not to lose faith when history keeps nakedly repeating itself…”

The book features 203 photographs, a chronological index with captions, a brief timeline of Afghanistan’s history, a postscript and acknowledgements. The book itself is not chronological.

Published in an edition of 1,000 copies, printed on January 13 and February 4, 2026

Launched in London on April 7th, 2026