Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak struck visual gold when he came across these photos at a photo studio in downtown Kandahar after the fall of the Taliban. Photographing any living entity was banned under the strict Islamic code of the Taliban yet there is a long history, whether for identification purposes or for pleasure, of the Taliban being photographed.
“Kandahar, a city of Pashtuns noted for their gaiety, so to speak, where Mullah Omar had made his final headquarters, has traditions of men in high-heeled sandals, with make-up of kohl and painted nails like sultry silent-movie stars. They liked to have their pictures taken and, because the Taliban most certainly needed passports, their vanities were accommodated in the hole-in-
the-wall photo shops that exist in downtown Kandahar.”
In 2003 Trolley Books in London published a collection of these photos unearthed by Dworzak.
Slate magazine has a 7 + minute video tour through the images that appear in the book including commentary by Dworzak
Thanks to Slog for the lead