A
victory
arch built at the entrance to a local commander's HQ in Bamiyan in the central highlands of Afghanistan in May of 2002.
Zooming right into the centre shows the empty niche of one of
the great Buddha
statues that stood in Bamiyan for a thousand years until their destruction by the Taliban in 2001. Surrounding it are tiny sub-monasteries and hermit's caves.
The work made the shortlist of the Citibank Prize (now know as the Deutsche Börse Prize). The judges gave the prize to an 'artist' who photographed handbags and his own penis. Oh well.
