Kabul Main Street 1972, a photo from Kabul, East

Photographer's Note

A real oldie from my first visit to Afghanistan, late summer 1972.

This is the Jad-e Maiwand, a long and wide street that had been drawn up in the early 20th century through the narrow lanes of old Kabul. It had become the most important business street of the city and one of its main thoroughfares.

I think this picture was taken very close to the friendly but extremely basic hotel where I was staying. As I stepped out from the hotel I was always overwhelmed by the crowds of bearded men in turbans, women in burqas - and some in Western style clothes - colourful trucks, battered old buses, herds of goats or sheep, an occasional camel. I was young and had never seen anything as exotic, and I enjoyed every moment.

More than three decades later I returned to this street only to find most of it reduced to long lines of ruins.

This was scanned from an Agfa Color slide, not as good as the Kodachromes I switched to later.

Kielia, Glint, papera, Polonaise, aristo, erhan1958, skippy007, UlfE, saxo042, millevitch, leahkan, edcone, notrap, abmdsudi, ourania, mcmtanyel, ikeharel, PaulVDV trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

humayun (3129) 2010-05-09 2:15

hello dear...........
Your photo is very nice with beautiful colours and right frame and lighting
This place is beautiful too and you are lucky that was there.....................
well don,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Disabled_A (0) 2010-05-09 2:29

Hej Gert,
yes, very exotic, indeed... especially for those who have never lived or travelled to such places!
This can be considered a "very" documentary historic shot - with sooooo many interesting details!
At the very first glance at the photo for a moment it even seemed to me that the woman (on the right) is walking with her back turned to us... but then I saw she's carrying something. So, it appears vice versa! :((
"Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet".

varma hälsningar,
och -trevlig söndag!
Elena

Kielia (24077) 2010-05-09 2:47

Hej Gert,
a very fascinating and very well captured scene and another interesting document.
Your note and Elena’s comment are thought provoking. What will the future bring to this country and its people?
Thank you for sharing this photo from your fantastic gallery !
Warm regards
Harriet

Glint (6171) 2010-05-09 6:20

Hello Gert,
another excellent and interesting documentary image. IHere we see old and new meeting. Sad thaat you found this place in ruins on a subsequent trip.
Bev

papera (14372) 2010-05-09 7:40

I am trying to imagine how you must have felt then, surrounded by all this... for sure it would impress me even now, and even after having seen these pictures on TV or in the press.
sometimes I think in retrospect - will we look in the future at the pictures we take nowadays with the same spirit and state of mind we have now..?
yes, the Kodachrome/Ektachrome are a different league - nevertheless this photo is more than the film it was shot on, and as such it documents a moment in life worth looking at.
c.

siamesa (28231) 2010-05-09 12:49

Boa tarde Gert

Excellent composition. Considering the time that you took this photo, we can say that it is perfect, full of life anc colors. Congratulations.
Abraços
maria

emka (158030) 2010-05-09 23:22

Hi Gert,
this photo is even older than your last ones from Afghanistan. Great view of this busy street. Women in burqas, men in turbans, goats... I like here this very colourful bus or trucks. And as in other notes this tragic sentence - "most of it reduced to long lines of ruins"....

Thanks for sharing these documents

Malgorzata

swiatopelk777 (0) 2010-05-10 1:27

Hi Gert!
Very fine picture. Good scene. Interesting place. Fantastic document.
Greetings from Warszawa!

jasmis (58653) 2010-05-10 1:31

Another interesting report photo from your full archive.
Regards my dear friend.

mafegan (8626) 2010-05-10 23:53

Hello Gert
Main street Kabul in 1972 - excellent historical documentary shot. A pity you could not have shown us the same sad scene 30 years later. This agfa slide is in good order - I have seen many that have faded to just green and pink. As usual thank you for sharing, Marlene

aristo (3214) 2010-05-13 11:03

Hello Gert!
Fantastic daily life scene,You captured great moment.What a place,full of life in country of prohibition.Great documentary image,compliments,

Arek

skippy007 (12510) 2010-05-18 20:24

Hello Gert, An oldie and a goodie. I imagine a young European would have been awe struck seeing this type of scene for the first time. A Shame to read that on your second trip it was almost all reduced to rubble. Interesting scene, I can not help but wonder how much there would have been if these people were left alone in a peaceful environment. Nice capture & well reproduced, most certainly worth seeing. Thanks
Regards
Santo

UlfE (14641) 2010-05-20 11:55

Hej Gert,

Another excellent photo of Kabul Main street. The diagonal line makes the composition very exciting. In my view it could have been a little bit brighter. The reason is that you have feeling that the woman in the foreground is walking away even if she is actually approching you. A little brigher picture could perhaps have changed this. TFS and have a nice evening!

Hälsningar

Ulf

saxo042 (38078) 2010-05-21 8:09

Hej Gert,
Another very interesting documentary, with a unique presentation of a city that obviously has changed dramatically. A lot of details to be found and studied here.
Hälsningar
Gunnar

notrap (7812) 2012-08-09 5:15

Hi Gert,
how I wish I could turn back time and believe once more that the world is stepping forward, very slowly but in the right direction, progress and development for everyone, everywhere!
In 1972 I never would have thought, that the german "Bundeswehr" could be involved in a war in Afghanistan.
Thanks for sharing your old photos.
Regards,
Elvira

abmdsudi (95869) 2012-12-21 7:22

Hi Gert
This is indeed a happy street scene for me, great candid shot well observed and captured timely that works with good humour to include some nice striking colors to catch the eyes. It seems that everthing is thrown in there even the goats are part of the shot, the lady vendor in burkah and the stunning yellow mellon is of course a great draw and obviously pulls the eyes in adding that stark contrast. Sharp image, a kind of picture with lots of of local flavour and culture. Great street scene, credit to pp treatment. Congrats,
Kind regards

ourania (51103) 2014-06-28 23:27

Hello Gert,
a very thorough, vivid and interesting scene from the business street of Kabul. We can see many aspects of the daily life before the devastating war. Wherever we look, there's movement; people, cars and herd going about their business, no sense of stillness at all. Great lighting and colours, superb spontaneous composition, timelessness and vividness are very well combined. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a lovely day,
Ourania

mcmtanyel (68383) 2015-05-12 20:44

Hello Gert,
I must confess, I was attracted to this photo because of the vehicles in it, but it has so much more. I cannot tell if the women are coming or going.
Regards,
MT

ikeharel (113241) 2016-09-28 7:35

Hello Gert,
Kabul in much better era than nowadays, and a nice capture of daily life in the city.
Goats and people, buses and trucks seem so vividly on the street action back than.
Fine the full use of the pic. space, superb clarity.
Good afternoon,
Ike

jmdias (115046) 2017-01-20 4:57

gert

I imagine in some aspects the clothes are similar but the landscape was very damaged by the wars. nice details from this time. TFS.

hugs

jorge

Silvio1953 (221463) 2020-08-06 12:25

Ciao Gert, interesting scene with a lot of life, I like capture of goaats too, excellent clarity, wonderful colors and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

PaulVDV (62846) 2022-04-21 14:34

Hello Gert,
It must have been a great disappointment to find this street in that state of disrepair after so many years of war.
Presumably the residents of Kabul also look at such a photo with a lot of nostalgia.
This looks like an incredibly wide street in the old town of Kabul. A lot of older homes will have been destroyed for this.
Yet there is little traffic. A whole herd of goats on the street is not a nuisance.
Best regards, Paul