Simon Norfolk Afghanistan

[Richard Wasserman]

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.

[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.

[Richard Wasserman]

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.

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.

[Miguel Curbelo]

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

[mortensen]

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!

[Mark Sampson]

Spectacular work, then and now.