Afghan Trucks  Jean-Charles Blanc

There isn’t much information or text in this book, but I was inspired to do a bit of my own research on Afghan Trucks. According to this Wikipedia article and a couple of other articles I’ll link below, ornately decorating trucks is quite common across Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and other South Asian countries. In Pakistan specifically, this practice may have begun in the 1920s and became more common in the 1940s, when more businesses created truck designs to indicate to illiterate people what their business was. As the years went on, truck painting became seen increasingly as a great business investment. Additionally, the decorations themselves may contain images of home or religious motifs/verses that remind the driver of home since they will likely be traveling great distances.

I think we can all agree these trucks are just gorgeous!  What a beautiful art form.  


Here’s the articles I read if you want some more info:  Article 1 & Article 2

Published 1976 by Stonehill Publishing Company
38 E. 57 St. New York, NY 10022

Photographs by Jean-Charles Blanc
Book design and typography by Roy Walker, M.S.I.S.
Printed in Holland by Rotobrite, Oss, The Netherlands

ISBN No. 0 88373 050 2

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