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.

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 / Gallery Luisotti

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.
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.
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • 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.
  • from the portfolio Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the War in Afghanistan
Date2010–2011, printed September 2011
Place depictedAfghanistan
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 14 5/16 × 19 1/8 in. (36.4 × 48.6 cm)
 Sheet: 15 x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Morris Weiner
Object number2016.224.36
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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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
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.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.90
Some of the nonsensical property development taking place in Kabul. This district of the city, Karte Char Chateh, is remembered by Kabulis as that part of the bazaar which was burned by the British in 1842 as collective punishment for the killing of the British Envoy. The fires still burned when the British retreated two days later.
Simon Norfolk
Some of the nonsensical property development taking place in Kabul. This district of the city, Karte Char Chateh, is remembered by Kabulis as that part of the bazaar which was burned by the British in 1842 as collective punishment for the killing of the British Envoy. The fires still burned when the British retreated two days later.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.7
Pakistani ‘jingle trucks’ end their long journey up from Karachi at the gates of Kandahar Airfield where they wait to be scanned, X-rayed and searched. Only people, ammunition and emergency requirements come by aircraft. Warlord-owned security companies protecting convoys can charge $15,000 per truck, but a large part of the fee is paid to Taliban protection rackets.
Simon Norfolk
Pakistani ‘jingle trucks’ end their long journey up from Karachi at the gates of Kandahar Airfield where they wait to be scanned, X-rayed and searched. Only people, ammunition and emergency requirements come by aircraft. Warlord-owned security companies protecting convoys can charge $15,000 per truck, but a large part of the fee is paid to Taliban protection rackets.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.77
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 Media Operations team including a Combat Camera unit, Camp Bastion, Helmand.
Simon Norfolk
Some of the Media Operations team including a Combat Camera unit, Camp Bastion, Helmand.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.57
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
Radio Afghanistan’s new transmitters paid for by American money; broadcasting official government news and anti-Taliban security alerts.
Simon Norfolk
Radio Afghanistan’s new transmitters paid for by American money; broadcasting official government news and anti-Taliban security alerts.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.39
‘The Museum Of The Jihad’ in Herat. In the centre of the tableau of anti-Soviet mujahedeen guerrillas is Ismail Khan, one-time Governor of Herat and minister in the national government. Mythologising their role in the Jihad helps justify their control and ownership of Afghanistan’s modern warlord economy.
Simon Norfolk
‘The Museum Of The Jihad’ in Herat. In the centre of the tableau of anti-Soviet mujahedeen guerrillas is Ismail Khan, one-time Governor of Herat and minister in the national government. Mythologising their role in the Jihad helps justify their control and ownership of Afghanistan’s modern warlord economy.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.12
A storage yard at Kandahar Airfield looking out beyond the wire, back into ‘Afghanistan’.
Simon Norfolk
A storage yard at Kandahar Airfield looking out beyond the wire, back into ‘Afghanistan’.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.99
A storage yard at Kandahar Airfield looking out beyond the wire, back into ‘Afghanistan’.
Simon Norfolk
A storage yard at Kandahar Airfield looking out beyond the wire, back into ‘Afghanistan’.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.87
Entrance to the vast City Star Hall complex of wedding halls, on the new bypass out near Kabul Airport.
Simon Norfolk
Entrance to the vast City Star Hall complex of wedding halls, on the new bypass out near Kabul Airport.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.16
The entrance to one of the dining halls at the Sham-e-Paris wedding complex.
Simon Norfolk
The entrance to one of the dining halls at the Sham-e-Paris wedding complex.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.40