Simon Norfolk
Namibia, 1904

Namibia, 1904

© Simon Norfolk / Gallery Luisotti

Namibia, 1904
Namibia, 1904
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • Namibia, 1904
  • For Most Of It I Have No Words: Genocide, Landscape, Memory
Dateprinted 2000
PlaceAfrica
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 5 15/16 × 6 in. (15.1 × 15.2 cm)
 Sheet: 15 13/16 × 11 15/16 in. (40.2 × 30.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of the photographer in honor of Amy Duke and the Holocaust Museum Houston
Object number2002.299
Not on view

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Department
Photography
Object Type
ProvenanceThe artist, Brighton, England; given to MFAH, 2002.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in pencil on verso lower third: "For Amy Duke and the Holocaust Museum Houston April 2002 / a native soldier fighting with the Germans swore under oath: / "When the engagement was over we discovered eight or nine Jick (?) Hereos ...(?) who had been left behind. Some / of them were blind. They had a supply of ...(?) and ...(?) But the German soldiers burned them alive by setting fire to the hut." When questioned a German officer replied, "So what? They might have inflicted (?) us with some disease."
Printed and pencil verso lower left: "Handprinted by the photographer / Date September 2000"
Marked in pencil verso, lower right: "Nambia 1904 / For Most of It I Have No Words / Genocide, Landscape, Memory"
Signed on verso lower left: "Simon Norfolk
Impressed in the lower center of recto sheet: "simon / norfolk / 0171 254 9620 / 0973 394718"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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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
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
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
Before dawn, construction workers warm themselves over burning plastic and cardboard before beginning the job of attempting to get hired for a day’s work.
Simon Norfolk
Before dawn, construction workers warm themselves over burning plastic and cardboard before beginning the job of attempting to get hired for a day’s work.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.42
‘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
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
A view of Kabul city centre from Bala Burj.
Simon Norfolk
A view of Kabul city centre from Bala Burj.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.49
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
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
A watchtower guarding a street of foreign embassies in central Kabul. For the British army these improvised fortifications are called ‘sangars’, although the term is Dari for ‘barricade’ and is one of the few words the British brought home from the Anglo-Afghan Wars.
Simon Norfolk
A watchtower guarding a street of foreign embassies in central Kabul. For the British army these improvised fortifications are called ‘sangars’, although the term is Dari for ‘barricade’ and is one of the few words the British brought home from the Anglo-Afghan Wars.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.14
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