LibGuides: Afghanistan in Photographs: 20th Century Photography

Image Collections in the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection

Bruce Richardson Papers
The collection of photographer and author Bruce Richardson includes photographs, correspondence, manuscripts and publications, and other material related to Afghanistan, especially, the Soviet-Afghan War, beginning in the 1980s. Prior to his death, Richardson donated photographs and books to the collection at various times.
Donald Watts Papers
The photographic collection of Donald Watts is composed of slides and a few photographs from Watts' travels in Afghanistan in 1973 to early 1975 while a Peace Corps volunteer in Kabul. Subjects of the images include Balkh, Bamiyan, Band-I-Amir, Bost, Herat, Kabul, Istalif, Herat, Nuristan, and other cities, provinces, and sites. The slides are sorted by location or other topic. The photographs were identified as being about Kabul, Watts' residence in Kabul, children, Kochis, Peace Corps, Panjshir, and unidentified.
Ronald Petocz Slides
Dr. Ronald G. Petocz worked in Afghanistan from 1971 to 1978. While there, he shot photographs he would have developed into slides documenting his travels visiting different parts of the country to ascertain protected areas for the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The collection of 35mm slides deals with the local communities in places such as the Pamir Mountains, the Wakhan Valley and Nuristan where the endangered snow leopard and markhor goats survive. Beside providing a glimpse of the natural beauty of the country a large portion of the slides also deal with the Kirghiz, Wakhi, Nuristani, Baluchi and Laghmani communities of the country. The slides provide a perspective of how the people lived and survived in peace in these regions before their lives were changed by political turmoil resulting in the devastation of these rare communities that had carried on for centuries. Description of the collection was provided by the donor.
The Afghan Folio
Photographic exhibit held at the University Library, University of Nebraska at Omaha, March 12-25, 1990; sponsored by the Center for Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha. Framed and matted photographs with donor plates attached to each frame. The photographs were produced with the Kodak Dye Transfer Process by the photographer. Also with the photographs is a binder containing descriptive information about each photograph.
UNO International Studies and Programs Records
The UNO International Studies & Programs Records comprise the print files of the University of Nebraska at Omaha International Studies and Programs unit. The material appears to date mostly from 1970-1990. The collection includes correspondence, trip reports, project reports, project proposals, forms, grant information, committee records, study abroad information, scholarship information, foreign government documents, newsletters, photographs, slides, and negatives.
Jean Heringman Willacy Papers
The papers of Jean Heringman Willacy document her interest and travel in Afghanistan beginning in 1967 along with her work supporting Afghan refugees after the Soviet invasion. The collection includes photographs, slides, and digital copies of slides donated to the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University along with drawings by Afghan refugee children about their war experiences, a speech for Save the Children, postcards, pamphlets, booklets, reports, newsletters, correspondence, calendars (National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, Austrian Relief Committee for Afghan Refugees, and Afghan media Resource Center), and other material.
Chris L. Jung Papers
The collection includes the correspondence sent and received by Chris and Sandra Jung while they were living in Afghanistan and after their return to the United States as well as slides taken by the Jungs while living in Afghanistan with their children.
Jane Willard Papers
The papers of Jane Willard document her experiences in an experimental program that combined one of year of Teacher Corps in Lackawanna, New York, and two of Peace Corps service. She attended graduate school at Buffalo State College, SUNY and learned Dari. In Afghanistan she was assigned as an English teacher at the Helmand Arghandab Construction Unit (HACU) outside of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. Her students were adult men who were accountants, engineers, and warehouse personnel. The collection includes photographs, letters written during her Peace Corps experience, a site report, language materials used for learning Dari, and Peace Corps IDs.
Afghanistan Art and Ephemera Collection
This collection includes a variety of artworks, photographs, and ephemera from, depicting, or otherwise related to Afghanistan. The The photographs are related to the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Libraries, Afghan mujahideen, Afghan refugees, Doctors Without Borders operating in Afghanistan, unidentified Afghanis, and other photos related to Afghanistan.

Donald Watts Photographs

Donald Watts donated his collection of approximately 750 slides and photographs to UNO Libraries' Archives and Special Collections for the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection in 2015. Finding aid for the Donald Watts Papers at UNO Libraries. Prof. Donald Watts biography from Kansas State University.

Citadel-surface, opening of underground chambers

Photograph by Donald Watts, Donald Watts Papers, UNO Libraries' Archives and Special Collections.

The Afghan Folio - Luke Powell

The Afghan Folio by photographer Luke Powell features 32 10x20” Kodak Dye Transfer prints of Afghanistan. Powell, a graduate of Yale University, traveled to Afghanistan during the 1970s and early 1980s to document the beauty and peace of Afghanistan. It is a rare collection of photograph of pre-Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Powell spent several years in Afghanistan photographing people and places. The Afghan Folio has been on display around the world, as well as in Criss Library. The Library acquired The Afghan Folio in 1989. The first exhibit of the photographs in the library was March 12-25, 1990. The Afghan Folio is periodically displayed in the library gallery and is available for research use in UNO Libraries' Archives and Special Collections.

Luke Powell's also published Afghan gold : Luke Powell, photographs 1973-2003 (2013).