Steve McCurry has been a photojournalist for over 30 years. He is the recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal, the National Press Photographers Award and four first prize awards in the World Press Photo contest. Photo: Afghanistan. (Photo by Steve McCurry)

In this photograph taken on April 28, 2018, Afghan children work at a coal yard on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (Photo by Noorullah Shirzada/AFP Photo)

In this Tuesday, December 15, 2015 photo, an Afghan man sells traditional sauces and pickles on a street in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Massoud Hossaini/AP Photo)

Afghans pass a clothing storein Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, October 12, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/AP Photo)

An Afghan holds a bouquet of poppies at a farm on May 13, 2011 near the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium poppies in the world

Afghan women pray at the Karti Sakhi shrine on May 13, 2011 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Within many mosques women have separate areas from the men for prayer, however, in many parts of Taliban controlled Afghanistan, women are only allowed to pray at home. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

Afghan men work in a small sweets factory in Kabul, Afghanistan January 5, 2017. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

Negin Ekhpulwak, leader of the Zohra orchestra, an ensemble of 35 women, practises on a piano at Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 9, 2016. Playing instruments was banned under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and even today, many conservative Muslims frown on most forms of music. Living in an orphanage in the capital, Kabul, 19-year-old Negin Ikhpolwak leads an ensemble of 35 women that plays both Western and Afghan musical instruments. In a country notorious internationally for harsh restrictions on women in most areas of life, Negin's story highlights a double challenge. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)