The Associated Press
09 October, 2004
Women line up to cast their votes at a small Shiite mosque in western Kabul. After decades of war, and a US-led ousting of the Taliban in 2001, Afghans voted in the country's first ever direct presidential election on October 9. The woman in the center lifts her veil so that election officials can check her identification card. Afghan society has traditionally held very conservative views on women, even before the Taliban rule, and many argue that little has changed. Most candidates running for election avoided taking a stand on women's rights. The election was won by Hamid Karzai, who had been leader of Afghanistan's interim government, with 55 per cent of the vote.
David Guttenfelder
Guttenfelder previously spent 20 years as a photojournalist for the Associated Press based in Nairobi, Abidjan, New Delhi, and Tokyo covering news in more than 75 countries aroun...
Through our education programs, the World Press Photo Foundation encourages diverse accounts of the world that present stories with different perspectives.
Our exhibitions showcase stories that make people stop, feel, think and act to a worldwide audience.
Our annual contest recognizes and rewards the best in photojournalism and documentary photography.
