Looks like a SKS and a couple of Enfields? Sweet photo though.
Anxious-Market
Afghanistan is a place with real problems, but goddamn is it hard not to admire people like this.
Voodoo_Masta
Amazing. I love the sense of scale provided by the mountains. I work in the animation industry and we have a term called “silhouette value”, which basically means if you take a drawing of a character and fill it in with black, it should still be perfectly clear what the character is doing. Here all three of the men have a perfect silhouette and IMO is absolutely makes this photo. This photographer was on point!
HRTendies
This war was won by the Afghanis who were far outgunned and outnumbered by soviet forces. Their knowledge of the terrain and resiliency proved too much for Gorbachev.
Additionally people like to cite the "stinger effect" as a turning point in the war. Supposedly the introduction of the Stinger missile by the US into the hands of the Afghanis had a large impact on soviet aircraft.
Regardless of stinger impact or not, the Afghani fighting spirit combined with US sanctions is what probably led to the demise of the soviet union in this war.
Voodoo_Masta
I also think it’s interesting that the lens used to take this photo – whatever it was (I have no idea) would be considered un-useably soft by todays standards – but you really can’t argue against the beauty of this photograph.
egieasemota
Out of curiosity, has there ever been a time when Afghanistan was not so…..remote and underdeveloped?
Sethleoric
So Afghanistan is like Poland but islamic?
Prophet_Muhammad_phd
And to think Alexander the Great and his armies marched through these mountains to enter India. The history that has occurred in a relatively unknown or unmentioned part of the world astounds me. I imagine there has been most history in Afghanistan than America pre-colonization.
GardenOfLavender
I really recommend following Steve McCurry on Instagram. It unfathomable how many incredible photos he has shot
johnyrobot
“This film is dedicated to the brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan.”
Neuroticmuffin
Trained by the CIA.
Oh and some of the Mujahidden later became the Taliban.
Rogueone65
It’s surreal to think that two of them are armed with SMLEs and this is the 1980s. However, that’s guerrilla warfare for you, you don’t exactly have the luxury of a choice
hipyounggunslinger
I absolutely love old pics of the Muj dudes. I hate that they devolved into the Taliban. I can always tell the difference between pictures of each group. (I spent a year in Afghanistan and part of my job involved sorting and sifting through an impressive archive of photographs)
The Mujahadeen always look noble and the the Taliban look just plain evil in every photo, even ones they took of each other
percartist
As I scrolled down to this post, I stopped at a point just so I couldn’t see the Mujahaideen’s heads and thought they were simply blending into the mountain to well and thought "heh"
captwinkie18
Looks like a SKS and a couple of Enfields? Sweet photo though.
Anxious-Market
Afghanistan is a place with real problems, but goddamn is it hard not to admire people like this.
Voodoo_Masta
Amazing. I love the sense of scale provided by the mountains. I work in the animation industry and we have a term called “silhouette value”, which basically means if you take a drawing of a character and fill it in with black, it should still be perfectly clear what the character is doing. Here all three of the men have a perfect silhouette and IMO is absolutely makes this photo. This photographer was on point!
HRTendies
This war was won by the Afghanis who were far outgunned and outnumbered by soviet forces. Their knowledge of the terrain and resiliency proved too much for Gorbachev.
Additionally people like to cite the "stinger effect" as a turning point in the war. Supposedly the introduction of the Stinger missile by the US into the hands of the Afghanis had a large impact on soviet aircraft.
Regardless of stinger impact or not, the Afghani fighting spirit combined with US sanctions is what probably led to the demise of the soviet union in this war.
Voodoo_Masta
I also think it’s interesting that the lens used to take this photo – whatever it was (I have no idea) would be considered un-useably soft by todays standards – but you really can’t argue against the beauty of this photograph.
egieasemota
Out of curiosity, has there ever been a time when Afghanistan was not so…..remote and underdeveloped?
Sethleoric
So Afghanistan is like Poland but islamic?
Prophet_Muhammad_phd
And to think Alexander the Great and his armies marched through these mountains to enter India. The history that has occurred in a relatively unknown or unmentioned part of the world astounds me. I imagine there has been most history in Afghanistan than America pre-colonization.
GardenOfLavender
I really recommend following Steve McCurry on Instagram. It unfathomable how many incredible photos he has shot
johnyrobot
“This film is dedicated to the brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan.”
Neuroticmuffin
Trained by the CIA.
Oh and some of the Mujahidden later became the Taliban.
Rogueone65
It’s surreal to think that two of them are armed with SMLEs and this is the 1980s. However, that’s guerrilla warfare for you, you don’t exactly have the luxury of a choice
hipyounggunslinger
I absolutely love old pics of the Muj dudes. I hate that they devolved into the Taliban. I can always tell the difference between pictures of each group. (I spent a year in Afghanistan and part of my job involved sorting and sifting through an impressive archive of photographs)
The Mujahadeen always look noble and the the Taliban look just plain evil in every photo, even ones they took of each other
percartist
As I scrolled down to this post, I stopped at a point just so I couldn’t see the Mujahaideen’s heads and thought they were simply blending into the mountain to well and thought "heh"
qwerty9877654321
Back when muslim where good in American movies