Elissa Bogos, Photographer and Journalist

Afghanistan: Kabul and Bamiyan

Afghan Shias mark the tenth day (Ashura) in Muharram, a Shia religious holiday commemorating the death of Imam Hussein. Men in Kabul gathered to flagellate themselves as a way to express solidarity with the martyrdom of Hussein. Kabul, 2009.

   
An Afghan Shia screams after flagellating himself during Ashura, the tenth and last day of the Shia religious holiday of Muharram, which commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.
   
A man walks through a blown out store after a car bomb tore through area near the Indian Embassy in Kabul on October 8, 2009.
     
  
A family feeds pigeons in front of the Old City's Blue Mosque. Kabul, 2007.
   
Afghan Sikhs prepare a milk pudding for lunch after the religious ceremony for Guru Nanak. November, 2009.
   
Friends and relatives of the Parliament members killed in the Novemer 6th suicide attack in Baghlan mourn their loss at a military hospital in Kabul, 2007.
     
  
Soldiers carry the body of one of the six Parliament members killed in the November 6th attack in Baghlan province. The bodies of the victims were laid to rest opposite Kabul's Darulaman Palace. Over a thousand people, most of them men, attended the funeral. Kabul, 2007.
   
The owner of a small real estate agency prepares to go to the hospital following a suicide attack that targeted a foreign militaryconvey in Kabul on November 27th.. The suicide car bomb killed two civilians and shattered the glass of storefronts for several blocks. Kabul, 2007.
   
     
  
Kabul, 2009.
   
Kabul fruit stand at night. October, 2007.
   
Women dance at an Afghan wedding. Weddings are large affairs inAfghanistan, and the women shed their burkas and scarves to revealcolorful dresses, heavy makeup, and shimmering hair. Kabul, 2007.
     
  
Shaeer Mohammed, 64, cried when he spoke of his journey to a Kabul home for the desitute. Having never married, and his parents long since deceased, he had been sleeping on the streets of Kabul until he decided to walk miles on foot to the home. "I only have God," he says.
   
Deen Mohammed lost both his legs sixteen years ago crossing the Iran-Afghanistan border illegally. Having spent a year in Iranworking, he saved up money and decided to return home when he stepped on a landmine. He woke up several hours later at a waiting station, and remained there for three days without proper medical treatment. At home, in his two-room house on the outskirts of Kabul, Deen Mahmat does not wear his artificial legs. Here, one of his four children runs past as Deen Mahmat maneuvers himself on the floor his hands. December, 2007.
   
An Afghan girls learns to skateboard on the streets of Kabul. August, 2008.
     
  
Kuchi women beg for money on the streets of Kabul. The Kuchi tribe live a nomadic life and are recognized by their brightly-colored dress. Kabul, 2007
   
  
Women train to become tailors in Bamiyan. Afghanistan. Because they cannot work at their respective jobs during this time, the trainingcenter provides the women with 50 Afghani's ($1.00) per day. Bamiyan, 2007.
     
  
Women of all ages listen to a lecture on farming techniques in Bamiyan, 2007.
   
Adeela, who estimates her age to be between 30 and 35, joined the sewing classes in Bamiyan in the hope of increasing her income. Having lost her husband last year Sdue to injuries he received and never recovered fromin a clash with the Taliban in 2001, she is the sole provider for her five children. Bamiyan, 2007.
   
Adeela and her five children sit by a gas lamp in their one room house in Bamiyan. Adeela's oldest daughter, Zamirah, 12 (far left), says she dreams of becoming a doctor one day.