Afghanistan's bittersweet oasis
Removed from the country's violence is a small area that remains an anomaly of peace
Boys take a break from playing in the village of Ghaz Khan. Schooling has recently been made accessible in most villages in the Wakhan Corridor, making this new generation the first to benefit from widespread education and stability.
(Benjamin Rasmussen)
A Kyrgyz trader feeds his yaks in the village of Ghaz Khan after traveling down from the Pamir Mountains. He and other men from his tribe make the journey to trade livestock for supplies when the summer snow melts.
(Benjamin Rasmussen) Photographer Benjamin Rasmussen learned of the region from his sister-in-law, who had worked in northern Afghanistan. Intrigued by the prospect of capturing a differ
(Benjamin Rasmussen)
A Wakhi woman stands with her family in the village of Ghaz Khan.
(Benjamin Rasmussen)
(Benjamin Rasmussen) Rasmussen says he was struck by both the region's geography and history. The sheer size of the mountains that tower over the gaping valleys, for example, are intensely humbling. But in a place that has traditionally had little access to education, he quickly learned the value of "mountain smarts.""I spent some days with a small group of Wakhi herders, who looked after hundreds of sheep, but had no schooling," Rasmussen says. "They couldn't use math to add up how many sheep were in their herd, but they knew the herd so intimately they could tell if one was missing. One evening, they went off to search for a missing lamb. When I asked how they knew it was missing, they said it was because there was a ewe without her lamb. They came back several hours later with it."
A Wakhi shepherd separates baby goats and sheep from their mothers in the Big Pamir Mountains.
: (Benjamin Rasmussen)
Wakhi shepherds and horsemen warm themselves by a fire in their yurt in the Big Pamir Mountains, after bringing in their sheep, goats, yaks, and horses for the evening.
(Benjamin Rasmussen) In a country that is mostly painted negatively in the Western press — oppression of women, deaths of American soldiers, repeated incursions by Taliban and other mili
(Benjamin Rasmussen) **To see more of Benjamin Rasmussen's work, check out his website, and follow him on Twitter**
