Warriors for Peace (24 images)

This is a portrait series of Iraq War veterans who are resisting the wars. It is national in scope and a work in progress. If you are interested in prints or licensing, please contact me directly.
We as a nation and a people are disconnected from the reality, intimacy, and emotions of war and especially from the soldiers who fight in it. We see the wars as "over there", being fought between the "troops" and the "insurgents", we see the dead and wounded...
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This is a portrait series of Iraq War veterans who are resisting the wars. It is national in scope and a work in progress. If you are interested in prints or licensing, please contact me directly.
We as a nation and a people are disconnected from the reality, intimacy, and emotions of war and especially from the soldiers who fight in it. We see the wars as "over there", being fought between the "troops" and the "insurgents", we see the dead and wounded as digits in a body count, and those who resist as defectors or protesters. In our minds, soldiers become instruments that fight for our freedoms and protections, devoid of emotions or morals that might conflict with the mission, never mind first and last names. Simply put we forget their humanity. And in doing so, we make the justifications for war and occupation that much easier to accept.

Through the use of intimate portraits and in depth audio interviews, this project challenges that perception of the soldier and reintroduces us to them as humans with distinct and varying sets of emotions, morals and beliefs. It looks deeply at the emotions and feelings behind their decision to oppose the wars they have been a part of. Was it anger at a corrupt system, compassion for those whose country and people they found themselves destroying, a sense of betrayal from the government they were fighting for, or sadness over the level of death and destruction they were a part of? I have found that while each veteran may have several stories and reasons why they oppose the war, there is usually one underlying emotion that drives their transformation. While I aim to document their stories, it is the emotions that will be highlighted in this project as a means for providing a space for the viewers to relate to the veterans on a very personal level. In creating that space and reintroducing the public to the humanity and emotion of the soldier, this project challenges the ease with which we accept war.
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