Artwork Page for Sherpur. The Laager and Abatts, West Corner, Showing the Kotal and Hills

Details / Information for Sherpur. The Laager and Abatts, West Corner, Showing the Kotal and Hills

Series Title: Afghanistan, February 1880

Sherpur. The Laager and Abatts, West Corner, Showing the Kotal and Hills

1878–80

John Burke

(Irish, 1845–1915)
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Culture
Ireland
Medium
albumen print
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Whitehill Art Purchase Endowment Fund 2024.6.tt
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

This album includes some of the earliest photographs of Afghanistan.

Description

The subject of this album is the Second Anglo-Afghan War, which was fought from 1878 to 1880. John Burke was the first photographer to photograph extensively in Afghanistan and the main photographer covering that conflict. The technology of the day did not permit action shots of battles. As is usual for early conflict photography, the pictures are landscapes of the sites of momentous incidents, views of camps and civil and military infrastructure, and portraits of the soldiers and their leaders.
A horizontally oriented albumen print depicts a stark, sepia-toned winter landscape. In the foreground, a row of wooden wheels sits behind tangled, leafless thickets. Small figures with dark skin tones and dark uniforms stand in formation across a vast, snowy expanse. To the right, a low wall leads toward an arched gateway. In the distance, craggy, barren mountains rise sharply under a pale sky. A small inscription marks the lower right corner.

Sherpur. The Laager and Abatts, West Corner, Showing the Kotal and Hills

1878–80

John Burke

(Irish, 1845–1915)
Ireland

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