Simon Norfolk
Victory arch built by the Northern Alliance at the entrance to a local commander's headquarters in Bamiyan. The empty niche housed the smaller of the two Buddhas, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001

Victory arch built by the Northern Alliance at the entrance to a local commander's headquarters in Bamiyan. The empty niche housed the smaller of the two Buddhas, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001

© Simon Norfolk / Gallery Luisotti

Victory arch built by the Northern Alliance at the entrance to a local commander's headquarters in Bamiyan. The empty niche housed the smaller of the two Buddhas, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001
Victory arch built by the Northern Alliance at the entrance to a local commander's headquarters in Bamiyan. The empty niche housed the smaller of the two Buddhas, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • Victory arch built by the Northern Alliance at the entrance to a local commander's headquarters in Bamiyan. The empty niche housed the smaller of the two Buddhas, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001
  • from the series Afghanistan: Chronotopia
Date2001–2002
PlaceBamiyan, Afghanistan
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 19 1/4 × 24 in. (48.9 × 61 cm)
 Sheet: 22 1/16 × 24 7/8 in. (56 × 63.2 cm)
 Frame (outer): 28 7/8 × 32 7/8 × 1 3/4 in. (73.4 × 83.6 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Photo Forum 2005
Object number2005.1460
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionSimon Norfolk’s
seductively beautiful photographs of Afghanistan juxtapose the impact of modern warfare with the echoes of the history
it destroys and the human suffering it leaves in its wake. Here, a fluttering
victory arch frames the distant gaping hole where a Bamiyan Buddha once stood,
while the now defunct supports of a bus terminal on the outskirts of Kabul
resemble the barrels of tanks forever pointing heavenward. Norfolk views the
ruins of past wars as a bizarre layering, strata built up over thirty years of
recent conflict and the rumblings of civilization, making Afghanistan, as he
says, “like a mirror, shattered and thrown into the mud of the past; the shards
are glittering fragments, echoing previous civilizations and lost greatness.”
Provenance[Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, California]; purchased by MFAH, 2005.
Exhibition History"Photo Forum 2005," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Lower Brown Corridor; October 3, 2005-January 9, 2006.

"Ruptures and Continuities: Photography Made after 1960 from the MFAH Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Foundation Galleries, February 21 - May 9, 2010.

"WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 11 November, 2012 - 3 February, 2013.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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

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
A cellphone booster-station built on the wreckage of buildings that once housed a market.
Simon Norfolk
A cellphone booster-station built on the wreckage of buildings that once housed a market.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.18
There are 16,000 US Marines aboard Camp Leatherneck spread over 1,600 acres. Empty shipping containers are used as storage, wind breaks or blast walls. In May 2010 a mysterious fire, that may have been sabotage, destroyed 9 acres of containers. It burned so furiously that fire fighters even lost two of their fire engines.
Simon Norfolk
There are 16,000 US Marines aboard Camp Leatherneck spread over 1,600 acres. Empty shipping containers are used as storage, wind breaks or blast walls. In May 2010 a mysterious fire, that may have been sabotage, destroyed 9 acres of containers. It burned so furiously that fire fighters even lost two of their fire engines.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.95
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
A government building close to the former Presidential palace at Darulaman, destroyed in fighting between Rabbani and the Hazaras in the early 1990's
Simon Norfolk
A government building close to the former Presidential palace at Darulaman, destroyed in fighting between Rabbani and the Hazaras in the early 1990's
2001
Chromogenic print
2006.68
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
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
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
Old biplane on a display plinth at the Exhibition Grounds in Kabul. Fighting birds are a source of great pride to Afghan men, but were banned by the Taliban as un-Islamic
Simon Norfolk
Old biplane on a display plinth at the Exhibition Grounds in Kabul. Fighting birds are a source of great pride to Afghan men, but were banned by the Taliban as un-Islamic
2001–2002
Chromogenic print
2019.664
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
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
Refugees from fighting between NATO and the Taliban in Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistan border, now sheltering on wasteground in Kabul.
Simon Norfolk
Refugees from fighting between NATO and the Taliban in Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistan border, now sheltering on wasteground in Kabul.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.35