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.

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 / Gallery Luisotti

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.
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.
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • 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.
  • from the portfolio Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the War in Afghanistan
Date2010–2011, printed September 2011
Place depictedKandahar (near), Afghanistan
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 number2016.224.77
Not on view

Explore Further

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.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

‘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
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
On the very northern edge of Kabul. A shipping container is re-purposed as home to men working in a yard casting concrete blast walls. Each section, when sold to foreign embassies or the military, fetches $1000 per piece.
Simon Norfolk
On the very northern edge of Kabul. A shipping container is re-purposed as home to men working in a yard casting concrete blast walls. Each section, when sold to foreign embassies or the military, fetches $1000 per piece.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.15
The districts of Wazir Akbar Khan and Sherpur, home to all the NGOs and contractors, occupy the site of the former British fortress from the Second Anglo-Afghan War, ‘the Cantonment’. Glitzy, kitschy ‘poppy-palaces’, flung up in a hectic property boom after the land was illegally re-possessed from squatters, can command rents of $20,000 per week when leased out to Internationals.
Simon Norfolk
The districts of Wazir Akbar Khan and Sherpur, home to all the NGOs and contractors, occupy the site of the former British fortress from the Second Anglo-Afghan War, ‘the Cantonment’. Glitzy, kitschy ‘poppy-palaces’, flung up in a hectic property boom after the land was illegally re-possessed from squatters, can command rents of $20,000 per week when leased out to Internationals.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.22
Mahomed Tahir Khan, Aslam Khan &c of Ghazni.
John Burke
Mahomed Tahir Khan, Aslam Khan &c of Ghazni.
1878–1880, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.67
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
Khan of Lalpura and Followers with Political Officer.
John Burke
Khan of Lalpura and Followers with Political Officer.
1878, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.66
The crew and ground staff of the new independent operator, ‘Safi Airways’.
Simon Norfolk
The crew and ground staff of the new independent operator, ‘Safi Airways’.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.63
Officers. Her Majesty’s 51st Regiment on Sultan Tarra.
John Burke
Officers. Her Majesty’s 51st Regiment on Sultan Tarra.
1878, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.64
The Amir Yakub Khan, General Daod Shah, Habeebula Moustafi with Major Cavagnari C.S.I and Mr Jenkyns.
John Burke
The Amir Yakub Khan, General Daod Shah, Habeebula Moustafi with Major Cavagnari C.S.I and Mr Jenkyns.
1879, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.72
Kandahar Airfield.
Simon Norfolk
Kandahar Airfield.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.73
Camp and Abattis At Sherpur. 5th Punjaub Infantry. 25th Dec 1879.
John Burke
Camp and Abattis At Sherpur. 5th Punjaub Infantry. 25th Dec 1879.
December 25, 1879, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.74