Simon Norfolk
One of the huge logistics compounds at Camp Leatherneck. A modern, technologized army needs hundreds of thousands of different kinds of objects in order to keep it working. A $100m warplane can be grounded for the want of a $1 part. Supplying these things is a huge drain on an army’s resources and its greatest vulnerability.

One of the huge logistics compounds at Camp Leatherneck. A modern, technologized army needs hundreds of thousands of different kinds of objects in order to keep it working. A $100m warplane can be grounded for the want of a $1 part. Supplying these things is a huge drain on an army’s resources and its greatest vulnerability.

© Simon Norfolk / Gallery Luisotti

One of the huge logistics compounds at Camp Leatherneck. A modern, technologized army needs hundreds of thousands of different kinds of objects in order to keep it working. A $100m warplane can be grounded for the want of a $1 part. Supplying these things is a huge drain on an army’s resources and its greatest vulnerability.
One of the huge logistics compounds at Camp Leatherneck. A modern, technologized army needs hundreds of thousands of different kinds of objects in order to keep it working. A $100m warplane can be grounded for the want of a $1 part. Supplying these things is a huge drain on an army’s resources and its greatest vulnerability.
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • One of the huge logistics compounds at Camp Leatherneck. A modern, technologized army needs hundreds of thousands of different kinds of objects in order to keep it working. A $100m warplane can be grounded for the want of a $1 part. Supplying these things is a huge drain on an army’s resources and its greatest vulnerability.
  • from the portfolio Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the War in Afghanistan
Date2010–2011, printed September 2011
Place depictedAfghanistan
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 14 3/8 × 19 3/16 in. (36.5 × 48.7 cm)
 Sheet: 15 × 20 in. (38.1 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Morris Weiner
Object number2016.224.90
Non exposé

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Department
Photography
Object Type
ProvenanceThe artist; [Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, California]; purchased by Morris Weiner, Houston, 2012; given to MFAH, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Stamped in black ink, verso, lower right: Burke + Norfolk // Photographs from the war in Afghanistan // by John Burke and Simon Norfolk // Printed by Simon Norfolk, September 2011 // An archival, digital, chromogenic print on Fujicolor Crystal Archive // Photograph by Simon Norfolk [signed in pencil over a stamped underline] // One of 104 prints in a Burke + Norfolk portfolio special edition // Edition number 1 of eight [1 is handwritten in pencil over a stamped underline]
Norfolk prints are signed and numbered on verso lower right, within artist's stamp

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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The whole eastern side of Kabul, for miles along both sides of Jalalabad Road is one huge logistics yard capable of supplying the foreign military and rapidly growing embassies with everything they might need from a single cup of coffee right through to an entire airstrip.
Simon Norfolk
The whole eastern side of Kabul, for miles along both sides of Jalalabad Road is one huge logistics yard capable of supplying the foreign military and rapidly growing embassies with everything they might need from a single cup of coffee right through to an entire airstrip.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.21
The Sham-e-Paris (‘Parisian Evenings’) wedding hall in the Taymani neighbourhood. Common in Pakistan, these huge wedding complexes have sprung up all over Kabul with dining and entertainment halls to seat a thousand on each storey and even an on-site honeymoon hotel.
Simon Norfolk
The Sham-e-Paris (‘Parisian Evenings’) wedding hall in the Taymani neighbourhood. Common in Pakistan, these huge wedding complexes have sprung up all over Kabul with dining and entertainment halls to seat a thousand on each storey and even an on-site honeymoon hotel.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.13
Yards supplying construction materials in Nawabadi Guzargah district of Kabul, overlooked by American-controlled electronic eavesdropping equipment on the summit of Kohe Asmai.
Simon Norfolk
Yards supplying construction materials in Nawabadi Guzargah district of Kabul, overlooked by American-controlled electronic eavesdropping equipment on the summit of Kohe Asmai.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.38
A shelter against rocket and mortar attack, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
Simon Norfolk
A shelter against rocket and mortar attack, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.104
Preparations for a sexy dancing and comedy show organized by the Morale, Welfare and Recreation unit at Camp Leatherneck.
Simon Norfolk
Preparations for a sexy dancing and comedy show organized by the Morale, Welfare and Recreation unit at Camp Leatherneck.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.103
Some of the palletized, instant-build accommodation blocks at Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
Simon Norfolk
Some of the palletized, instant-build accommodation blocks at Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.100
Some of the astonishing new architecture mushrooming up in cities all over Afghanistan. Part Disney, part wedding cake; inspired by Bollywood but reverential to Greek classicism; it represents an architectless kind of architecture.
Simon Norfolk
Some of the astonishing new architecture mushrooming up in cities all over Afghanistan. Part Disney, part wedding cake; inspired by Bollywood but reverential to Greek classicism; it represents an architectless kind of architecture.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.36
Afghan Police being trained by US Marines, Camp Leatherneck.
Simon Norfolk
Afghan Police being trained by US Marines, Camp Leatherneck.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.65
There are 16,000 US Marines aboard Camp Leatherneck spread over 1,600 acres. Empty shipping containers are used as storage, wind breaks or blast walls. In May 2010 a mysterious fire, that may have been sabotage, destroyed 9 acres of containers. It burned so furiously that fire fighters even lost two of their fire engines.
Simon Norfolk
There are 16,000 US Marines aboard Camp Leatherneck spread over 1,600 acres. Empty shipping containers are used as storage, wind breaks or blast walls. In May 2010 a mysterious fire, that may have been sabotage, destroyed 9 acres of containers. It burned so furiously that fire fighters even lost two of their fire engines.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.95
Security lights and communications antennae at Camp Leatherneck.
Simon Norfolk
Security lights and communications antennae at Camp Leatherneck.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.88
Afghan police trainees being taken to the firing ranges by US Marines, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
Simon Norfolk
Afghan police trainees being taken to the firing ranges by US Marines, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.75
Wasteland at the back of shops used as stabling for draft horses. In the distance is the Bala Hissar citadel, now home to an Afghan Army base and mooring for one of the American blimps that carry electronic surveillance gear and cameras.
Simon Norfolk
Wasteland at the back of shops used as stabling for draft horses. In the distance is the Bala Hissar citadel, now home to an Afghan Army base and mooring for one of the American blimps that carry electronic surveillance gear and cameras.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.10