lynsey addario, photographer

Middle East: Afghanistan

Secret wedding under the Taliban Regime. Herat, Afghanistan. March 2001
   
Afghans celebrate a secret wedding under the Taliban Regime, Herat, Afghanistan. March 2001
   
Secret wedding under the Taliban Regime. Herat, Afghanistan. March 2001
     
  
Life under the Taliban: Afghans celebrate a secret wedding under the Taliban Regime, Herat, Afghanistan. March 2001
   
  
Life under the Taliban: Afghans celebrate a secret wedding under the Taliban Regime, Herat, Afghanistan. March 2001
     
  
Secret wedding under the Taliban Regime. Herat, Afghanistan. March 2001
   
  
Life under the Taliban: Women put on their burquas as they prepare to leave a secret wedding under the Taliban Regime, Herat, Afghanistan. March 2001
     
  
Afghan War: Muslim women attend an Eid prayer service in the female section beside the main mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan December 16, 2001. Since the fall of the Taliban, and the subsequent loosening up of restrictions for women in Afghanistan, many women came out in public this year for the first time to pray at the mosque, rather than in their homes.
   
Afghanistan post-Taliban: Afghan women walk through Kabul's main bazaar, in Afghanistan, August 16, 2005. Afghanistan has seen much progress in some areas of infrastructure and human rights, and dismal lack of progress in other areas, as it gears up for its first Parlimentary elections since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
   
Post-Taliban: Two girlscouts hang out before the start of an Afghan Independence Day parade at the stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 19, 2005. Afghanistan has seen much progress in some areas of infrastructure and human rights, and dismal lack of progress in other areas, as it gears up for its first Parlimentary elections since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
     
  
Afghans ride the bus through the main market in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 16, 2005
   
Afghan War: Muslim women attend an Eid prayer service in the female section beside the main mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan December 16, 2001. Since the fall of the Taliban, and the subsequent loosening up of restrictions for women in Afghanistan, many women came out in public this year for the first time to pray at the mosque, rather than in their homes.
   
Life under the Taliban: An Afghan woman waits beside a truck carrying refugees from an Internally Displaced People camp outside Herat into the the city March 22, 2001 in Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghans have left their homes and sold their livestock in the countryside and have traveled to Herat and other main cities in Afghanistan in search of food and aid due to the drought. Most farmers have lost entire seasons of crops due to the water shortage, and have been forced to leave farmland for one of several IDP camps set up by the UN and the International aid community.
     
  
Afghan War: Female teachers, some veiled, some unveiled, attend a co-ed meeting for the re-opening of schools at the Educational Headquarters building in Kandahar, Afghanistan December 19, 2001. Since the fall of the formerly ruling Taliban, and the subsequent lifting of restrictions on education and cultuaral forums, Afghans across the country are preparing new schools and re-opening ones that have been closed for some time.
   
A woman stands beside her premature granddaughter born minutes earlier on the front lawn of a clinic run by Parlimentary Candidate Dr. Roshanaq in Wardak province, Afghanistan, August 22, 2005. Afghanistan has seen much progress in some areas of infrastructure and human rights, and dismal lack of progress in other areas, as it gears up for its first Parlimentary elections since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
   
Women's mental Hospital. Kabul, Afghanistan. 2002
     
  
Men's Mental Hospital. Kandahar, Afghanistan. December 2001
   
Women's mental hospital. Kabul, Afghanistan. 2002
   
Mental Hospital. Kabul, Afghanistan 2002
     
  
Life under the Taliban/ Landmine Victims: Abdullah, a landmine victim, sits with his son and daughter at home in Logar province, Afghanistan, May 2000. For seven years, Abdullah was involved in fighting on behalf of the mujhideen, and stopped only when he lost both hands and his sight when he leaned on a landmine in an attempted attack on the Russian troops. He looks at the war now, and thinks "..fighting is totally wrong. It is worthless--just killing each other. It increases the number of widows, and the number of disabled. Abdullah has received vocational training from CDAP, an NGO for landmine victims, and earns minimal money as spends most of his days sitting at home with his children. Signs of 20 years of war plague Afghanistan's infrastructure and culture and affect every realm of life.
  
Afghan War: Afghan fighters sit outside of Mullah Omar's residencial compound now being used as Interim Head Government, Hamid Karzai's, headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 12, 2001.
  
Afghan War: Afghans gather around the speakers of a music store on the streets of Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 12, 2001. Under the formerly ruling Taliban, music was banned for almost six years, and only since they surrended their last stronghold of Kandahar have people come out to the streets to celebrate with music and entertainment.
     
  
   
Life under the Taliban: A man walks with his camels in Wardak province in Afghanistan May 2000.