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.

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 / Gallery Luisotti

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.
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.
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • 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.
  • 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 number2016.224.24
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]
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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Unfinished, speculative property development near Kabul Airport.
Simon Norfolk
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.30
The seemingly endless number of helicopter pads and hangars at Camp Bastion.
Simon Norfolk
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.92
Some of the palletized, instant-build accommodation blocks at Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
Simon Norfolk
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.100
The ‘Residency’. From outside of Bala Hissar.
John Burke
1878–1880, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.101
Ali Musjid and Camp from Sultan Tarra.
John Burke
1878, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.98
A shelter against rocket and mortar attack, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand.
Simon Norfolk
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.104
Waiting for a helicopter, Camp Bastion, Helmand.
Simon Norfolk
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.102