French and Italian soldiers serving in Afghanistan attended a photo exhibition on Saturday at their base in Camp Warehouse, the operations center for the International Security Assistance Force located 10 kilometers east of Kabul.

On display were over 200 photographs taken by the soldiers of the NATO-led ISAF.

Nathalie Crispin, a French soldier, whose photos were among those on show, explained why photography was important to her.

"Being on a military mission does not stop you from seeing what is going on around you from a humanitarian point of view. On the contrary, we have a much closer view of day to day life because we meet people every day during our mission. So photography at this time is important because it stops us from forgetting and let's us continue moving forward and interacting with Afghans as much as possible."

Anna Maria Comida, an Italian soldier, said the photos revealed what really happened in Afghanistan.

"When looking at the pictures, I think of the many contradictions in this country; the pictures illustrate them very well."

France and Italy are among the main contributors of NATO forces in Afghanistan. Italy has more than two thousand soldiers, while France has more than 15-hundred troops.

France announced at the recent NATO summit in Bucharest that it would be sending a further contingent to the country, increasing the number of French troops to over 2,000.