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Details / Information for South Wall, Bala Hissar & Residency

Series Title: Afghanistan, February 1880

South Wall, Bala Hissar & Residency

1878–80
(Irish, 1845–1915)
Culture
Ireland
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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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 stone fortification atop a rugged hillside. To the right, a large rounded tower with open windows and a crumbling roof rises above a massive stone wall. Multi-story buildings with wooden balconies line the wall top, while handwritten text marks the masonry on the left (see "Inscriptions"). In the background, snow-capped mountains rise beneath a pale sky. Muted brown tones emphasize the weathered, rocky textures.

South Wall, Bala Hissar & Residency

1878–80

John Burke

(Irish, 1845–1915)
Ireland

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