Simon Norfolk Afghanistan

http://www.simonnorfolk.com/burkenorfolk/

A new series by Simon Norfolk, one of my very favorite photographers, on Afghanistan incorporating work by John Burke a Victorian photographer who recorded a previous war. I find Norfolk a deep and highly nuanced artist who very thoughtfully makes wonderful images.

Thanks for sharing. He's one of my favorites too. The work is much more subtle than much of the more traditional reportage (and the glut of hipstamatic/iphone photo essays) coming out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I think I saw him working in Baghdad in 2003. I was on assignment for my newspaper and I saw some nut running around with a 4x5 wooden field camera. I wasn't aware of his work at the time, but once I became aware of it I've wondered if it was him. I should have said hello but we were driving by and in a hurry to get somewhere.

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Originally Posted by Noah A

Thanks for sharing. He's one of my favorites too. The work is much more subtle than much of the more traditional reportage (and the glut of hipstamatic/iphone photo essays) coming out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I think I saw him working in Baghdad in 2003. I was on assignment for my newspaper and I saw some nut running around with a 4x5 wooden field camera. I wasn't aware of his work at the time, but once I became aware of it I've wondered if it was him. I should have said hello but we were driving by and in a hurry to get somewhere.

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It might have been him, he does seem to cultivate the persona of a nutter. I read an interview with him where he said that he dresses as differently from embedded photographers as possible—Hawaiian shirts, shorts, and a vest he had made that says "Artist" on the back. When someone sees him through a rifle scope, instead of shooting him, he wants them to think 'What the hell is that???" and come take a closer look. It's also one of the reasons he uses a brass and wood folding camera, as it is somewhat familiar looking and non-threatening.

On the other hand his depth and subtlety of thought strikes me as unique in war photography (and most other endeavors also). Of course, how many war photographers have a degree in philosophy from Oxford? He is constantly redefining what it means to photograph war, and the layer upon layer that he depicts always amazes me.

For his latest work in Afghanistan he used a Phase One P45 back.

Norfolk is really good - I have his Chronotopia book, which is beautiful. My favourite series by him is the 'Ascension Island: The Panopticon' and 'The LHC'. I think he is best when he is only subtly depicting war or more accurately, the traces of war.

I guess you know of Richard Mosse already: http://richardmosse.com/
Superb!

Spectacular work, then and now.