Afghanistan

From the invasion of Afghanistan through the Arab Spring, the Muslim world received a lot of media attention during the past two decades. Many of the countries where these stories take place deny entry to
Israelis. As a result, some of the most interesting stories were out of reach for photographers like me.

In 2004 the war in Afghanistan was still the biggest story hitting international news and I was interested in documenting it myself. When I saw images taken by fellow photojournalists, they reflected a photogenic, wild, and demographically fascinating country. Photographing Afghanistan became a dream of mine, and I had to give it a shot.

I dropped off my Israeli passport at the NYC Afghan consulate requesting a visa. Three days later, I picked up my passport and, to my astonishment they approved my request! But now, even though entry was technically possible, I couldn’t predict how the Afghans I would meet might react to me being an Israeli. But hey, I got the visa – I had to go!

I spent over a month traveling through that beautiful yet war-torn country. Concerned for my own safety, I kept my identity secret the whole time.

These are the pictures of my journey.