Afghanistan

Maroon wasn’t sure what to expect when he agreed to his third fashion shoot in Afghanistan in 1968. What he found was a country unlike any other, wild, fascinating and beautiful. Read more.

 

As the muezzins call to prayer at the Grand Mosque of Herat, a Western visitor listens in a gold-on-green embroidered silk.

The Hindu Kush mountain range once slowed invaders, but today, paved roads open up passes. A stranger sees the "roof of the world" in a lynx-bordered wool-fleece greatcoat, matching tunic and flared pants.

A caravan passes by the giant Buddha statue in the Bamiyan Valley. This statue was blown up by the Taliban in 1990.

Charh Chatta, Kabul's covered bazaar, entices Westerners with its exotic bargains like the male costume above: silk pearan (tunic) and ghibi (trousers), with silk turban wound around an embroidered cap.

The Chapandez are the riders who have made Buzkashi the wildest, most uninhibited display of horsemanship in the world. Buzkashi is Afghanistan's national game, played for state visits and also on ceremonial occasions like the king's birthday. Chapandez convene at stadiums (this one at Kunduz), and form two teams of 30 to 100 men. The horsemen then fight for possession of a dead calf. A rider, at full gallop, with the calf in one hand and a whip in the other, tries to round a stake at the end of a 450 meter field — often flattening a few spectators on the way. The Chapandez in traditional costume, line up behind model Ann Cosyns in an American coat of embroidered pigskin, a silk-satin pouf skirt and bodice.

Tradition-inspired outfit photographed in the Bamiyan Valley.

Balkh, with the Khwaja Parsaw Shrine in the background.

Balkh once reigned as the Aryan capital and as the major city of the Silk Route. Caravansarais, like the one crumbling to earth near Balkh, were placed a day apart, caravan time, to shelter travelers. At Takhta Poll, Eastern culotte meets western shirt of silk, and a satin silk turban.

The hills north of Kunduz roll on to the Oxus, the boundary between Afghanistan and Russia. Only wandering sheep and camels break the waves of green hills. Our "Herder of Karakuls" above wears a pusteen, or embroidered sheepskin jacket. Jacket, hat and boots cost $27 at the market in Kabul.

Near the Russian border, elder Kochi tribesmen gather for afternoon tea as they do every day. The Afghans have a great tradition of hospitality towards visitors and value the well-being of a guest over their own.

Herat, perched on Afghanistan's western border, was leveled by the Mongols. Its Grand Mosque, left, stands fully restored by His Majesty Mohammed Zahir Shah. An archway dwarfs a visitor in a sequin-streaked gown of gold-and-silver silk brocade.

A fire burns in preparation for a traditional meal before the giant Buddha statue in the Bamiyan Valley.

The walls of the Bamiyan cliff sides abound with caves which have been used as hideouts for thousands of years.

Buddhas brood over the Bamiyan Valley, where Greek and Buddhist cultures met about 20 centuries ago. A cult of colossal sculpture developed there; artists draped Greek chitons on stylized forms to create the giant Buddhas that then became popular throughout the Orient. Caravans passed through Bamiyan on their way from Balkh to India under their gaze, and thousands of Buddhist monks lived in caves built into the cliff walls. A great civilization flourished until Genghis Khan destroyed every living soul, man and beast, to avenge the death of his soldier grandson. The 175-foot-high Buddha once gleamed with polychrome and ornaments amid Buddhist frescoes. Unfortunately, the statue was destroyed by order of the Taliban in March 2000.

While poppies are Afghanistan's largest agricultural product, these are not the type that yield opium.

A "Wandering Shepherd" keeps an eye on an approaching caravan in a banded curly-lamb coat, embroidered vest, white wool tunic and trousers. Four mounds of rice await the comers to the feast: on the left, cello, or steamed rice; then three pilafs: spinach Subzi, orange, and chicken-flavored Kabul. Lettuce, tomatoes, and flat, unleavened bread round out the menu.

 

Along the Silk Route in Afghanistan - 1968

"With 'Cashmere in Mongolia' and 'Furs in Russia' under our belt, a story shot anywhere in the world seemed within the range of the possible, provided that the idea was a valid one. What to do next in the series that Allen Hurlburt, the art director at LOOK Magazine, dubbed 'Maroon's Mind Bogglers'? I had long been intrigued by the ancient Silk Route, from China to the Mediterranean, and thought it would be a photographic blockbuster as a story, or even a book. Why not add modern silk fashions to the landscape along Marco Polo's ancient route? Photographing in China was out of the question in 1968, but Afghanistan was an important segment of the route, and seemed to me to offer plenty of exotic locations. The editors agreed, the budget was approved, and I found myself in the unenviable position of now having to pull the thing off. I had never been to Afghanistan, but figured that it couldn't be any less hospitable than Outer Mongolia had been. 

I flew out a week ahead of the rest of the team so I could make arrangements and scout locations. Before leaving I had read James Michener's Caravan and done a little research into the history of the country at my local library, and as a result I did not set out with any great sense of optimism. In fact, I was sure that this would be the last boggler, and quite possibly the last of Maroon. The Afghans, I had read, had a penchant for blinding those they distrusted, and, due to their tumultuous history and forbidding and isolating topography, they distrusted almost everyone. I could not imagine what they would make of western models, western fashions, or a western photographer.

My first scouting trip was to the Bamiyan Valley, in the central part of the country. The floor of this valley is almost 10,000 feet above sea level; the peaks of the Hindu Kush, a range sometimes called 'the roof of the world', tower above the valley to heights of more than 25,000 feet. The name Hindu Kush means 'Hindu Killer', reputedly because of the many Indian slaves who perished trying to cross the mountains. It was an important location, since it was in this valley that all the silk routes converged. Here the Chinese offered their silks to traders in caravans from India, Syria, and Turkey. So many languages were spoken in the process that the site became known as the 'Valley of Noise'."