Eye-opening images taken by a British photographer of Afghanistan in peacetime have been revealed in a new book.
In a fascinating 120-page book, travel writer Christopher Balfour reveals a side of the country that few will recognise, untouched by modern times and decades of unrest.
The photographs capture locals engaging in domestic life in a stunning landscape which had changed little in six centuries with one image showing a man holding up two fish that he had caught from the nearby river.
In another image, Balfour captured a vast temple and one of two Bamayan statues – a huge Buddha figure that had been carved hundreds of feet high into a cliff face, which was later destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
Other images show a man lugging bales of hay on his back, a farmer sowing his field using two cows to pull the machinery, and an encampment in the desert with camels for transport.
The images have been released in the new book Afghanistan at a time of peace: A 1955 journey into the Boharak plain in a veteran Land Rover by Christopher Balfour and is published by Tricorn Books.