scottclarkson's PhotoBlog

Peshawar Pakistan Markets

2009-10-10T07:27:08Z

Recent events in the City of Peshawar Pakistan - So I thought you'd like to see what Pehawar looks like. Pakistan Bombing Kills 49 By Haq Nawaz Khan and Karin Brulliard Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, October 10, 2009 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 9 -- A car bomb ripped through a bustling market and killed 49 people in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday morning, Pakistani officials said, prompting the government to renew its pledge to wage an offensive in a militant-heavy region along the Afghan border.

Kabul -- Uncomfortably Numb

2009-09-25T21:12:42Z

The violence in Afghanistan gets worse; but people still live on. From the AP, 26 Sept. 2009 By LORI HINNANT, Associated Press Writer Lori Hinnant, Associated Press Writer KABUL – Rising violence ahead of Afghanistan's disputed presidential election made August the deadliest month of the year for civilians, the U.N. said, warning in a new report that attacks could spike again when the final vote results are announced. A total of 1,500 civilians died in Afghanistan from January through August, according to the report released late Friday. About three-quarters of the deaths were blamed on militants. The U.N. report did not specify the August death toll, but said the month was the deadliest of the year as the Taliban stepped up an intimidation campaign to discourage Afghans from voting in the Aug. 20 election. The U.N. said coalition forces were to blame for about a quarter of civilian deaths in 2009 — most of them in airstrikes. The top NATO commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has made protecting Afghan civilians a top priority.

George McGovern and Gore Vidal at Nixon Library & Museum

2009-08-27T00:46:10Z

George McGovern, author of "Abraham Lincoln", appeared tonight at the Richard Nixon Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. He was introduced by "Lincoln" author Gore Vidal, who also read from works by George Bernard Shaw. The event was coordinated, and introductions were made, by Timothy Naftali, director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, a part of the National Archives and Records Administration. (Pictured with McGovern and Vidal, above.)

St. Patrick's Cathedral - Karachi, Pakistan

2009-09-06T20:50:33Z

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, is situated on Shahrah-e-Iraq, formerly known as Clarke Street, located near the Empress Market in Karachi, Pakistan. The first church in Sindh (except for possibly one in Thatta) was initially built on the grounds of this cathedral in 1845, and was called St. Patrick’s Church. It was in April 1881 that the present cathedral was opened, since the Christian community grew in number, and the need for a larger place of worship became apparent. Despite the construction of the new building, the little church continued to function until it was destroyed by a storm in 1885. The present-day cathedral is built in Gothic style; it measures 52 metres by 22 metres, and has the capacity to accommodate at least 1,500 worshippers at the same time. It was designed by three members of the Society of Jesus: Father Wagner, Brother Kluver and Brother Lau. The Gazetteer of the Province of Sindh provides a description of the cathedral: "Its exterior is not ornamental, though striking from a distance, but money and art have been lavished on the interior. The chancel, itself spacious, acquires a special impressiveness but its additional height, while the noble contours of the aspiring altar are seen to the best advantage. The whole interior is painted in oil and the windows are all of stained glass, the members of the congregation." In 1978 the cathedral celebrated its centenary. The Pakistan Post Office issued special commorative stamps on the occasion. Pope John Paul I sent special greetings and blessings on the occasion. Today, the cathedral's grounds are adorned with a marble monument of Christ the King, which was constructed in 1931 to commemorate the memory of the Jesuit Mission in Sindh. The Parish Priest is Father Edward Joseph. Wikipedia.com - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Cathedral,_Karachi 9/6/2009

Mohatta Palace Museum - Karachi Pakistan Colonial Architecture

2009-07-29T11:19:29Z

"Mohatta Palace is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It was built by Shivratan Chandraratan Mohatta, an ambitious self-made Hindu businessman from Marwar as his summer home in 1927.The architect of the palace was Agha Ahmed Hussain. However, Mohatta could enjoy this building for only about two decades before political upheaval and the partition of the subcontinent forced him to leave Karachi. He built the Palace in the tradition of stone palaces in Rajasthan, using pink Jodhpur stone in combination with the local yellow stone from Gizri. The amalgam gave the palace a distinctive presence in an elegant neighbourhood, characterised by Mughal architecture which was located not far from the sea." Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohatta_Palace The building has teak wood shutters that require new varnish. Further deferred maintenance will cause permanent damage to the wood. I am working to find the resources to provide necessary varnish and tools for this work to start immediately. By the way, for those photographers out there, the building photos are perfect example of problems beset in this type of photography. The 50 mm lens (and 35 mm lens) will cause an untrue inward "bend" in the vertical left (or further away) tower. The tower does not bend inward -- it's an optics issue -- and the correct solution is to put a 90 mm lens on the camera. But, you can't do that if you don't have enough space to move back to shoot. Photoshop can correct this later -- but it would be unnecessary if a 90 mm lens had been used in the first place.

Pakistan Internally Displaced Persons Camps - Near Swat Valley

2009-07-26T17:50:48Z

Pakistan's Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps quickly filled to over 2 million population as Pakistanis were forced from their villages and towns by the rugged fighting and bombing by both the Taliban, the Pakistan Army, and American drone attacks in the North West Frontier Province. Over the past 6 months, the army has attempted to clear the affected areas, with seemingly significant success. In the meantime, the national and international efforts to assist the displaced families has been nothing short of a marvel in organization and implementation. This may have been the best refugee assistance program ever undertaken. Now, many of the IDPs from the Swat Valley are going home, witness buses by the score leaving the camps. The camps are also consolidating to maximize efficiencies; however, less than half of the IDP's have gone back home at this time.

Frontier Corps in North West Pakistan

2009-07-24T06:30:06Z

I'm in Peshawar, Pakistan now. About 15 km from Afghanistan border. Had meeting with famous Pakistan General Tariq Khan regarding last 6 months of fighting against Taliban. He is Commander of all Pakistan Forces in North West Frontier in war against Taliban. I am now invited to spend three days with Frontier Corps Rangers, living with the officers in Khyber Pass outpost http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pass tomorrow night, moving up north with a group for two more nights, and then back to Peshawar. I have also been "awarded" a very nice medal designating me "Friend of the Frontier Scouts". It's a "get out of jail free card", he calls it. Not if the Taliban find it on me, I suspect. The General also told me not to play around with any cigar box sized packages that I might see on the road. “It might break your Leica.”

Left-over Soviet Armor Remains in Afghanistan

2009-07-23T05:40:40Z

The fan base has been clamoring for some vestiges of the Soviet presence in and around Kabul. The city has its share of destroyed buildings and remnants of hostilities. Here's a few.

The Faces of Kabul, Afghanistan

2009-07-21T20:45:08Z

I spent July 21 in city markets and an unofficial refugee camp located approximately 20 km west of Kabul. UNICEF doctors were on hand, as well as 400+ displaced families. I didn't feel like posting the camp photos today; and I'm instead putting up an essay on the faces of hope and dignity in Kabul.

Afghanistan Refugee Camp 50 km North of Kabul

2009-09-06T13:12:40Z

Afghanistan Refugee Camp 50 km North of Kabul