Gathering wood in Afghanistan

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An Afghan carries a bundle of wood in Nahr-i Sufi near the DHQ (Char Dara District Police Headquarter) in the province of Kunduz on March 30. The Afghan economy has always been based on agriculture, despite the fact that only 13 percent of its total land is arable and just eight percent is currently cultivated.Johannes Eisele / AFP - Getty Images

March 30, 2012, 8:09 AM EDT

By Phaedra Singelis

I was struck by the beauty and simplicity of this photos. Sometime texture and composition come together in a photograph in way that can be reminiscent of paintings or poems. See more photos from Afghanistan in our slideshow.

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.Jangir / AFP - Getty Images

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Phaedra Singelis

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