Description

Joël van Houdt – Afghanistanism
Publisher: Joël van Houdt, 2026
Softcover, 276 pages, English
Size: 34×23.2cm
Signed copy!
New in seal

Afghanistanism is Joël van Houdt’s long-term photographic work on Afghanistan, bringing together images made between 2010 and 2022. Rather than repeating familiar media clichés, the book reflects on the complexities of looking at Afghanistan as an outsider and on the limits of foreign reportage itself. Through photographs made over more than a decade, van Houdt traces the consequences of war and foreign intervention, while also paying attention to the quieter, more surreal and deeply human realities of everyday life.

Many of the photographs in Afghanistanism were made away from editorial assignments, during long walks through Kabul and other cities. The result is a body of work that moves beyond headline-driven coverage and makes room for resilience, humour, uncertainty and generosity alongside violence and political upheaval. Designed by Sybren Kuiper and self-published, the book is shaped by van Houdt’s years of living and working in the country, including a five-year period based in Kabul.

Joël van Houdt is a Dutch independent photojournalist based in London. He studied Photography and Design in Bradford and graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2003. A six-month project in Afghanistan in 2010 turned into a five-year stay, and Afghanistan has remained one of his long-term concerns alongside migration and the former Soviet Union. His work has appeared in publications including The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel, Stern and FT Weekend Magazine.