Simon Norfolk
A cellphone booster-station built on the wreckage of buildings that once housed a market.

A cellphone booster-station built on the wreckage of buildings that once housed a market.

© Simon Norfolk / Gallery Luisotti

A cellphone booster-station built on the wreckage of buildings that once housed a market.
A cellphone booster-station built on the wreckage of buildings that once housed a market.
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • A cellphone booster-station built on the wreckage of buildings that once housed a market.
  • from the portfolio Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the War in Afghanistan
Date2010–2011, printed September 2011
Place depictedKabul, Afghanistan
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 14 1/2 × 19 1/4 in. (36.8 × 48.9 cm)
 Sheet: 15 × 20 in. (38.1 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Morris Weiner
Object number2016.224.18
Not on view

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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]
Signed and numbered on verso lower right, within artist's stamp

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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At Wasalabad high above West Kabul. It has taken 26 men from the Mine Detection Centre and four de-mining dogs more than three months to clear mines from an area the size of a few soccer pitches. Kabul’s rapid expansion has increased pressure for building land. Mined areas that were once marginal are now in demand for house construction.
Simon Norfolk
At Wasalabad high above West Kabul. It has taken 26 men from the Mine Detection Centre and four de-mining dogs more than three months to clear mines from an area the size of a few soccer pitches. Kabul’s rapid expansion has increased pressure for building land. Mined areas that were once marginal are now in demand for house construction.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.44
A shaded rest area built by helicopter re-fuelling crews at Camp Bastion.
Simon Norfolk
A shaded rest area built by helicopter re-fuelling crews at Camp Bastion.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.84
Shah-do-Shamshira Mosque was built in the 1920s on the site of one of Kabul’s first mosques, the Mosque of the King with Two Swords, named in honour of an early Muslim king who died fighting Hindu invaders.
Simon Norfolk
Shah-do-Shamshira Mosque was built in the 1920s on the site of one of Kabul’s first mosques, the Mosque of the King with Two Swords, named in honour of an early Muslim king who died fighting Hindu invaders.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.5
The swimming pool that crowns Tepe Wazir Akbar Khan, built by the Soviets in the 1970s and restored in recent times at great expense by USAID. It is uncertain if it will ever be used.
Simon Norfolk
The swimming pool that crowns Tepe Wazir Akbar Khan, built by the Soviets in the 1970s and restored in recent times at great expense by USAID. It is uncertain if it will ever be used.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.20
Jaw Aka Faizal Nahman and his daughter Nono from Bamiyan province, now living in an improvised plastic shelter in the ruined gardens of Darulaman Palace. Built in the 1920s to house an Afghan parliament, ‘Darul Aman’ translates as ‘abode of peace’.
Simon Norfolk
Jaw Aka Faizal Nahman and his daughter Nono from Bamiyan province, now living in an improvised plastic shelter in the ruined gardens of Darulaman Palace. Built in the 1920s to house an Afghan parliament, ‘Darul Aman’ translates as ‘abode of peace’.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.19
The former home of Jangalak Industries, a metalworking factory that once had a workforce of 1,800 but was wrecked during the civil war in the 1990s. It is now used as a massive storage yard for scrap metal. This area is all discarded hospital beds and school desks.
Simon Norfolk
The former home of Jangalak Industries, a metalworking factory that once had a workforce of 1,800 but was wrecked during the civil war in the 1990s. It is now used as a massive storage yard for scrap metal. This area is all discarded hospital beds and school desks.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.9
An informal market in the ‘Mikrorayon 4’ housing area, covered up for the night.
Simon Norfolk
An informal market in the ‘Mikrorayon 4’ housing area, covered up for the night.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.33
Pakistani apples for sale at a roadside market.
Simon Norfolk
Pakistani apples for sale at a roadside market.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.34
The peripheries of the city of Kabul, especially to the north and east are endless building sites. Since most of the documentation concerning land title was lost during the war, much of this speculative and illegal construction is concerned more with establishing undisputable ‘facts on the ground’. Apartments and shops are, almost exclusively, unoccupied.
Simon Norfolk
The peripheries of the city of Kabul, especially to the north and east are endless building sites. Since most of the documentation concerning land title was lost during the war, much of this speculative and illegal construction is concerned more with establishing undisputable ‘facts on the ground’. Apartments and shops are, almost exclusively, unoccupied.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.24
Historically, Kuchis were strongly pro-Taliban; feelings made more intense by being bombed by NATO off their traditional grazing lands in Helmand. They are allowed to set up camp here on Kabul’s periphery only because it is below a large, new Afghan Army base.
Simon Norfolk
Historically, Kuchis were strongly pro-Taliban; feelings made more intense by being bombed by NATO off their traditional grazing lands in Helmand. They are allowed to set up camp here on Kabul’s periphery only because it is below a large, new Afghan Army base.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.46
A Shia cemetery on the flanks of Kohe Asmai.
Simon Norfolk
A Shia cemetery on the flanks of Kohe Asmai.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.43
The entrance to a small, western-backed NGO.
Simon Norfolk
The entrance to a small, western-backed NGO.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.41