AFP has named a new annual photography competition for Shah Marai, the chief photographer in the Kabul bureau, who was killed in a suicide attack last April.

The contest also aims to support Afghan photographers.

Throughout his career, Shah Marai showed the reality of life in Afghanistan with passion and tenderness. During 17 years of conflict, his photos captured moments of raw violence but also moments of beauty.

Asia-Pacific regional director Philippe Massonnet says Afghanistan is defined to

the outside world, by the images of violence and tragedy that appear regularly on international news. "But behind the violence of the conflict lies another country, full of human warmth and daily toil," he says. "It was also this country that Shah Marai was constantly striving to show to the rest of the world."

That thought inspired the 'My Afghanistan' competition, in which Afghan photographers living in Afghanistan or overseas are invited to submit a series of photographs to reflect "the reality of their people" in Afghanistan or abroad, in their daily life, culture, environment, or social issues. Other angles could be used to tell the story of "their Afghanistan."

Three prizes will be awarded in May at a ceremony in Paris.

The competition website can be found at: www.maraiphotoaward.com