Minarets of Herat Photo

Photographer’s Note

Here you see three of five of Herat's fabled 15th century minarets. These towers, as high as 55m, are on the UNESCO list of endangered heritage sites. They are in serious jeopardy of collapsing. Currently, efforts are underway to stabilize the towers, which are weakend by the vibration of the nearby road. Minarets are towers, that in the days before electricity, is from where a Muslim immam would sound the call to prayer. In the forefront is a U.S. ETT (Embedded Training Team) who is making rounds to various Afghan checkpoints.

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Critiques | Translate

annagrace (2463) 2005-11-20 22:45

Excellent capture of old and new! I like the contrast of the military with the old minaret. Good low POV makes for a good composition.

Thank goodness for the troops in Afghanistan! I hope that SOB bin Laden is caught soon.

jbweasle (9294) 2005-11-21 4:36

Hello David, this is a good shot to show the contrast between ancient history and modern troubles. Here at the Musalla Complex the road is very new, only two ar three years old and driven right through the middle of this historic area. Already it is damaging the ancient site. It's a terrible balance that has to be struck in Afghanistan - preservation of the past against modernisation for the future. Who should stop this poor country from developing and recovering from their fate under the Taleban? Yet where is the protection of history? And this is only one of the problems that Afghanistan has to face.