Abdul Hamid, a Soviet trained geologist and barman of 24 years at the United Nations International Community Association club, in Kabul, shared at least two decades passport photos which chart the changing fortunes of Afghanistan. His outfits change over the years to echo the prevailing powers in the war torn country.

The father-of-five grew up under King Zahir Shah in Ghazni province, and he moved to Kabul in 1964. He studied for six years at the Baku Institute for Petroleum and Gas from 1975-1981, during which time Russia invaded Afghanistan, and his earliest photo echoes the communist look, with a trademark moustache.

Hamid started working as a geologist for the Ministry of Mines in Kabul, but in 1987 he took a part time job as a waiter at the United Nations International Community Association (UNICA) to help make ends meet. A year later he started tending the bar. They paid him three times his government salary.

During the civil war he dressed like a Panjshiri resistance fighter, with the trademark Pakool woollen cap made famous by Ahmed Shah Massoud. The militants had been fighting to defeat the Soviets. Hamid had to change to survive.

Under the Taleban he was forced to grow a beard and wear a Turban. Anyone caught outside without one or the other risked being beaten and imprisoned until their beard grew to a fist’s length beneath their chin.

The hardline Islamists fired him from the ministry. He said they hated him for being a communist, and they hated him for being an ethinc Hazara.

Under President Karzai he was free to return to the look of his youth, although he has never gone back to the ministry. On June 30, 2010, Hamid served his last drink at UNICA. The landlords sold their plot to corporate developers, the Alokozay Group,  who plan to build a shopping mall and a business centre.