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“The Afghan National Army is regularly derided as being a rag-tag militia, dope-smoking, lazy and irresponsible in battle,” writes John D McHugh, a Reportage photographer who recently spent time with ANA soldiers in Helmand Province. He continues:

There is no doubt that this is true in some cases, but the reality that I have witnessed over my 7 years in Afghanistan is that there are plenty of brave and committed Afghan soldiers who want to serve their country, fight the Taliban, and hope for peace one day. But while bravery and commitment are important traits in a soldier, there are other skills that must be taught to men if they are to have any chance of surviving in a war.

McHugh is an Irish photojournalist and filmmaker based in London, England. McHugh has worked extensively in Afghanistan since the start of 2006. He has been embedded with US, Canadian, and British troops. His new feature, available via Reportage by Getty Images, is titled “Observe the Sons of Afghan Marching Toward War.”

Caption: HELMAND, AFGHANISTAN - NOVEMBER 2012: Afghan National Army soldiers take part in Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training at the Regional Training Centre in Helmand, 17 Nov 2012.

At some point, almost every photographer has discovered one of their images bouncing around the internet without any credit.  Marksta, a new app developed by Reportage Featured Photographer John D McHugh, allows users to easily add watermarks to images taken on their iPhones.  For a limited time, it’s free on iTunes.

UPDATE: As of Jan. 28, Marksta has been launched for the iPad. Some other new features are EXIF/IPTC preservation, Flickr integration, and hashtagging for Tumblr, Flickr and Instagram.

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…talk to any coalition troops on the ground and they will tell you the Afghans can fight, but only after they have been fed, clothed, armed and delivered to the battlefield by NATO.  Chief Warrant Officer Klaus Augustinus is a Danish mentor/advisor to the ANA and is on his third tour in Afghanistan. He openly admits that he was unimpressed with the ANA in the past, but now he feels they are making real progress. However, he says, it is the insistence on viewing the ANA through the prism of a Western army that leads to many problems. “Always keep in mind that the Afghan way is the right way,” Klaus says. “We’re not going to do it any faster than they can cope with it. Otherwise we’re going to lose.” -Filmmaker and photographer John D McHugh.  Read more and watch the film, Afghanistan: An Army Prepares, here.

…talk to any coalition troops on the ground and they will tell you the Afghans can fight, but only after they have been fed, clothed, armed and delivered to the battlefield by NATO.  Chief Warrant Officer Klaus Augustinus is a Danish mentor/advisor to the ANA and is on his third tour in Afghanistan. He openly admits that he was unimpressed with the ANA in the past, but now he feels they are making real progress. However, he says, it is the insistence on viewing the ANA through the prism of a Western army that leads to many problems. “Always keep in mind that the Afghan way is the right way,” Klaus says. “We’re not going to do it any faster than they can cope with it. Otherwise we’re going to lose.”

-Filmmaker and photographer John D McHugh. 

Read more and watch the film, Afghanistan: An Army Prepares, here.

For many years I have heard the American military in Afghanistan use the phrase, “putting an Afghan face on the war.” It is invoked when the coalition has achieved something it wishes to publicise, but wants to give all the credit to the Afghan troops. The theory is that by praising the Afghans their morale is improved, making it more likely that they will do better in the future. At the same time, the media report this Afghan “success” back in the West, giving hope to the public that the Afghans are improving and so the war will soon be over. 

I feel these portraits…do something I’ve wanted to do for many years. They put an Afghan face on the war!

-Photographer John D McHugh, on his project The People of Afghanistan

Images:

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, politician and runner up in the last Afghanistan Presidential election

Madina Saidi, skateboarder and instructor at the Skateistan NGO

Lieutenant Jan Aqa, Afghan National Army

Kabul - A City of Hope and Fear

Photographer and Filmmaker John D McHugh has been documenting life in Afghanistan’s capital city, its slow rise out of conflict, and the hints of impending disaster that many feel is just around the corner.  


‘As the city holds it breath, waiting for the next assault, one man refuses to give up on Kabul.  It is the city’s mayor Muhammad Yunus Nawandish, who is dedicated to putting the capital back on its feet after so many years of destruction and decay. 

He spends hours every day on the road, inspecting infrastructure construction projects, badgering suppliers and contractors, keeping the pressure up on his officials.  He is renowned for his hands on approach, fond of turning up unannounced at building sites and catching municipal staff unawares.

He is also dedicated to fighting corruption, particularly tackling what he calls “the land mafia,” which makes getting anything done in Kabul so difficult.  With warlords illegally grabbing land for development, often for putting up their own absurdly extravagant houses, the mayor’s determination is admirable, but very dangerous. “Because the fight against corruption and the land mafia is not so easy, I purchased a piece of land for my grave,” he says, without a trace of fear.’

Read more at Al Jazeera People & Power

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johndmchugh: Bird market, Kabul. Hidden in the back alleys of a bazaar, singing and fighting birds are sold in handmade cages, as they have been for hundreds of years.

johndmchugh:

Bird market, Kabul. Hidden in the back alleys of a bazaar, singing and fighting birds are sold in handmade cages, as they have been for hundreds of years.

Photos from Afghanistan by John D McHugh; see the full spread in the latest edition of Huffington.

‘CHECK POINT 2.5’ shot by John D McHugh whilst filming The Winter War in the Kunar province of Afghanistan.

John D McHugh - The Winter War

This film by John D McHugh from Afghanistan’s Kunar province aired last night on Al Jazeera.

“As we crammed ourselves into the low-slung cargo seats of the Chinook, abandoning any effort to strap ourselves in, I thought back over my time on the mountaintop. For the first nine days there had been a lot of shooting. Not the up close and personal kind of close quarter combat that I have come to expect in Afghanistan, especially in this eastern part. No, rather it had been Taliban taking pot shots at the helicopters followed by massive retaliation from the pilots. Not a fair fight at all, and I wondered again and again what the Taliban were trying to achieve. There was only the tiniest chance that they would even hit a helicopter, let alone bring one down. This slight possibility pitched against the guaranteed retribution of the heavily armed flying machines suggested either overwhelming confidence, or pure stupidity. I never could decide which.”

John D McHugh

Introducing John D McHugh as a featured photographer on Reportage by Getty Images.

John D is based in London. He has worked extensively in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and more recently in northeastern Africa. He is a multi media journalist who has produced short films, documentaries, audio visual slideshows and blogs for The Guardian, Al Jazeera and Channel 4.

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