Baghdad, 10 years after the Iraq invasion – in pictures

A boy plays on a climbing frame in the Zawara amusement park in Baghdad on a Thursday afternoon, the beginning of the weekend. Hugely popular, new parks and public spaces have been springing up across the city Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

A child stares out of a car window in central Baghdad while his father is stuck in traffic in one of the city's interminable traffic jams, made worse by the numerous police and army checkpoints Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

A group of fashionable and middle-class Iraqi youths play with a drum in Baghdad's Zawara park Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

A member of the brass section of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

A young man works out in a Baghdad gym, a pastime that has always been popular in the city Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

A young woman holds a rose she has bought from one of the stands in the Zawara amusement park on an afternoon off Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

Baghdad's distinctive telecoms tower built during the regime of Saddam Hussein, which dominates the skyline of the Mansour district Photograph: Peter Beaumont for The Observer/Peter Beaumont for the Observer

A father plays with his son in a Baghdad park Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

Diners at the Haje Khodary restaurant in Baghdad's Karrada district, popular with wealthier businessmen and government officials Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

Live carp in a holding tank waiting to be cooked into masgouf – the famous grilled Iraqi fish dish Photograph: Peter Beaumont for The Observer

A street vendor grills carp for masgouf. Before the fall of Baghdad the dish was regarded as an expensive luxury served mainly in restaurants on Abu Nawas Street. The advent of farmed carp in ponds has made the dish much more widely available Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

Rowers set off from a pontoon for sculling practise on a flooded Tigris river Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

A young oarsman at the Iraqi Rowing Union finishes an afternoon sculling session on the Tigris Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

Two policemen guard a typical central Baghdad apartment block. Since the end of the sectarian war between 2005 and 2008 that pitted Shia against Sunni, main neighbourhoods have been walled in and the streets guarded Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

Customers shop for sweets in one of Baghdad's most famous pastry shops Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer

Still a very rare sight in Baghdad traffic: a racing cyclist Photograph: Peter Beaumont for the Observer