It’s one of the most iconic photographs. An Afghan girl, fixating the viewer with her green eyes, filled with anxiety. You’ve seen it. Turns out the backstory is very different from the one originally told. The article is almost a year old, but somehow only came to my attention now. It deserves a lot of attention.

From Weekly Filet #289, in May 2020.

You’ll never see the iconic photo of the ‘Afghan Girl’ the same way again

You’ll never see the iconic photo of the ‘Afghan Girl’ the same way again

💔 Some older links might be broken — that's the state of the web, sadly. If you find one, ping me.

You might also like

Recent Scenes from Antarctica

Recent Scenes from Antarctica

Fear Pics – October 2012

Photographer Who Took Iconic Vietnam Photo Looks Back, 40 Years After the War Ended

Photographer Who Took Iconic Vietnam Photo Looks Back, 40 Years After the War Ended

Earth’s Wonders Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Earth’s Wonders Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Explore more →

Explore collections

Making Sense of the Climate Crisis 41 links Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence 39 links All-time favourites 20 links The Stuff Our Modern World Runs On 13 links The Art of Thinking (Differently) 28 links Bingeworthy Podcasts & Episodes 36 links Stories, too good to put down 16 links

Book recommendations

2025 Book Club Books curious minds wished they discovered sooner Our most popular crowd-curated book recommendations thus far. Read the post →

Book Club illustration

Weekly Filet Book Club All recommendations from previous editions, at a glance. Find your next read → 📚 David's Bookshelf The books that shaped how I see the world and inform how I think and act. Browse the bookshelf →