Afghanistan: Away from the war

Brickmakers feed the moori - the glowing openings in the kiln’s surface - with coal. The kiln is among dozens that dot the landscape of the Shomali plain outside of Kabul Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A brickmaker in the Shomali plain Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

Giant portraits in Kabul of President Hamid Karzai and Ahmad Shah Massoud, "The Lion of Panjshir", who was assasinated by the Taliban days before the September 11 attacks on the US Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

An old man makes his way through pigeons at the Shahi du Shamshira mosque near the Kabul river in the center of the city Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

Young boys play with a bicycle tyre on Cannon mountain, an old fort which overlooks Kabul Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A tailor, Zabi Baheer, and his son Namir inside their shop in Kabul Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A cyclist enjoys an ice cream cone as he makes his way through a twilit Cinema park in Kabul Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

Unemployed men gather on one of Kabul's roundabouts hoping to pick up a day's work. Unemployment in Afghanistan stands at about 40% Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

An unemployed man waits to pick up a day's work in Kabul Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A bread shop at dusk in Kabul. Afghanistan has seen the price of food rise sharply, with Afghans spending about 70% of their income on food Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A man shows off his partridge in its cage. Partridges and the keeping of other birds are popular hobbies in Afghanistan. The partridges are also kept for bird fighting Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A man sells cucumbers from the back of his family's truck in Kabul's biggest food market Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A Shia cemetery in Kabul. The death toll from decades of conflict in Afghanistan is at least 1.8 million Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A family shelter under a tent selling bread near a Shia cemetery in Kabul Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A sheep herder in the Shomali plain, north of Kabul Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

Hazarmir Ahmad, 10, collects wheat from the floor in a small flour mill in the Oazi Ghalum Dana district of Kandahar Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A portrait of boys working at a clothing shop in Kandahar's main bazaar in the Oazi Ghalum Dana district Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A portrait of a tea maker in Kandahar's main bazaar Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A young boy watches an elderly man makes his way though an alley. The old city of Kabul is a labyrinth of streets and passages Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

A young man makes his way through a Shia cemetery in Kabul. Afghanistan has one of the highest numbers of amputees in the world due to decades of war Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian

An elderly man watches the sun set near the tomb of King Muhammad Nadir Shah from the Seesung Heights overlooking Kabul Photograph: Antonio Olmos/Guardian