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Photos from Shah Marai, a Photojournalist who was Killed Today in Afghanistan (41 photos)

Shah Marai, chief photographer for Agence France-Presse in Kabul, was killed today in Afghanistan, one of at least 25 victims of twin suicide bombings in downtown Kabul. The second bombing targeted journalists who had come to cover the initial attack, killing eight of them, including Marai. He began covering events in Afghanistan for AFP in 1998, first as a stringer, later a staff photographer, working his way up to chief photographer. In those 20 years, AFP distributed more than 18,000 of his photos, documenting the war and horror, but also everyday life—including the struggles of ordinary Afghans and the beauty of the landscape. He had an incredible ability to capture the humanity in almost any situation, a collection of his photos is gathered below. Shah Marai leaves behind a family including six children. I also invite you to read “When hope is gone,” written by Marai in 2016 about Afghanistan after the U.S. pulled out, and his own role in covering the events of the previous decades.

Afghan shoe-shine boy Sameiullah, 11, looks on from a hillside towards the Karta-e-Sakhi cemetery where he waits for customers daily in Kabul on February 10, 2015. Sameiullah, the second son of his eight-member family, is the sole bread-winner who polishes shoes of customers from dawn to dusk in western Kabul, making roughly 4 USD daily. Poverty and insecurity has forced thousands of children into child labor in Afghanistan. Children aged five to fifteen work on the streets instead of attending schools, and are often the sole bread-winners of their families. (Shah Marai / AFP / Getty)
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/04/photos-from-shah-marai-a-photojournalist-who-was-killed-today-in-afghanistan/559241/