‘Picnic in Argandab Valley’, 1880 circa (b/w photo)

‘Picnic in Argandab Valley’, 1880 circa. Photograph by Benjamin Simpson (1831-1923), 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880), 1880 circa. Deputy Surgeon General Benjamin Simpson was an amateur photographer who served in the Indian Medical Service until 1890. Simpson arrived in Kandahar in the aftermath of Major-General Frederick Roberts’ relief off the besieged city in September 1880 and took a remarkable series of photographs of the city and its population in the weeks and months that followed. Simpson also photographed members of the British garrison, including moments when they were off-duty and enjoying themselves. Simpson departed Kandahar with the South Afghanistan Field Force in April 1881. From an album of 34 photographs.