Child Mechanics and Tribal Phenetics

Around about 4 ½ years ago, when I first visited Peshawar on my way to Kabul for my first taste of war, I spent a few days in the old city, exploring the congested alleyways, hidden khans and apoplectic markets of this quintessential frontier city. I was swept into the current of smugglers and tradesmen, held in naïve awe by the frenzy of mostly illegal activity carried out with what seemed to me at the time to be an almost cavalier disregard for law and order. Since that introductory experience, I’ve often re-visited the city, either in transit to Kabul or as a staging ground for assignments in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan and over the course of those subsequent visits, gained a sort of understanding of the laws and orders that govern this place. It’s easy enough to call them ‘Tribal’ and I suppose in their essence they are; Peshawar is a sort of urbanized tribal country where modern political structures are loosely grafted onto a deeply-rooted core of clan governance. Understanding how this clan system works is essential to understanding Peshawar, and necessary if you intend to work in Peshawar. Any trip into Tribal country, for example, must begin here, where the complex network of tribal hierarchies mix in the cauldron of money and power. If you want access to any of Pakistan’s Tribal Agencies, you will find the contacts here, for the right price.

So here my journey begins: in obscure back-rooms in the gem market where smugglers trade and sell glittering crystals from Afghanistan and Pakistan, in clandestine rooftop teahouses where these same smugglers seek out some escape from their uncertain lives with hashish and the company of fellow tradesmen. Down dusty alleyways, through unmarked doorways, up narrow staircases and into dimly-lit and smoke-filled rooms, this is the way business is done in Peshawar.

My business is nearing completion. Unfortunately, I can’t talk about it yet but I can say this much: it’s been a successful venture, albeit somewhat costly. In the meantime, I will offer up some new images I’ve added to my ever on-going Child Mechanics project, shot in Shuba Bazaar, Peshawar’s car parts district (click here for a slideshow of previous images - an 8.5 MB executable file).