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Special Veterans Day Issue/November 11, 2009
American Veterans
Photographs by Kevin Bubriski
Veterans Day Parade, New York City 2008. Photo by Kevin Bubriski
Photographer Kevin Bubriski has 70 portraits of American
veterans on his SDN online exhibit titled American Veterans--all taken at
the 2008 Veterans Day parade in New York City. Bubriski's style is a stark and
anthropological look at the faces of soldiers. His photos are evidence of the
power of straight photography--reminiscent of Alfred Stieglitz, August Sander,
Walker Evans, and Nick Nixon--to impart the broader meaning of a theme through the precise recording of topographic detail in an individual subject.
In honor of the diversity of American veterans and the
struggles that they endure while serving our country,
SocialDocumentary.net presents Bubriski's exhibit as a reminder of the unique
and individual character of the millions who have served. These portraits of soldiers remind us how fortunate
we all are for their sacrifice (whether or not we agree with the wars), our
debt to them, and our obligation to help the returning soldiers and their
families adapt to civilian life, with or without the added burden of physical and psychological scars.
Following the tragic shooting at Fort Hood
last week, Bubriski's photos are also a reminder of the impossibility every
soldier faces reconciling the simple things in life that we all cherish and
the terrible things they must experience and do during war.
Click here to view the exhibit.
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| Nine of the seventy images from "American Veterans" by Kevin Bubriski |
"These photographs were taken in New York City on November
11, 2008 at the Veterans Day parade. Behind each photograph is the story of an
individual and his or her service to the country. As I photographed at
the parade, I thought of all the countless thousands of soldiers lost or maimed
in war who could not be present. We have now been at war in
Afghanistan for over eight years and at war in Iraq for over six
years. As the country debates the future of our involvement in
Afghanistan and Iraq, when we hear on the news the numbers of tens of thousands
of troops under consideration for deployment, let us remember that each soldier
is an individual with family, friends and dreams."
-- Kevin
Bubriski
For information on what you can do to support Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, visit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
About SocialDocumentary.net
SocialDocumentary.net is a new website for photographers, NGOs, journalists, editors, and students to create and explore documentary websites investigating critical issues facing the world today. Recent exhibits have explored oil workers in the Niger River Delta, male sex workers in India, Central American immigrant women during their journey north, and Iraqi and Afghan refugees in Greece. Click here to view all of the exhibits. |
