Written on the back of this work is: “This photograph was taken in Kabul in the fall of 2003, during a parade in honor of the late afghan commander Ahmad Shah Massoud. Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance and a fervent anti-Taliban commander, was killed by Tunisian Al Qaeda operatives posing as journalists, two days before the 9/11 attacks. The Afghanistan I know is a land of clashing contrasts, of raw beauty; its landscape scarred by centuries of wars fought against foreign armies and with itself. From 2001 to 2010, I have returned over and over again, with the hope of documenting the promise of peace and prosperity made by the latest invading powers. I soon realized the fragility of this promise. I found Afghanistan staring at a precipice, its freefall toward anarchy gaining strength throughout the country and no longer confined to the Pashto-speaking provinces where the Taliban was born and remains entrenched.” — Moises Saman