IN TRAINING: SOLDIERS BEFORE WAR

With this series I consider the before-math of war. Working with young American troops from the Army and the National Guard I get to know what goes on before the action. Many of my photographs are made at Basic Training or Pre-Basic Training.

My photographs do not have an overtly political or partisan message. My desire for those viewing these works is that they might consider who the individual soldiers are on a human level. I am deeply struck by how young the soldiers are, by their physical vulnerability and by the gravity of what is asked of them. For me these feelings are particularly present in images such as “Private Rebecca Hill.”

Another way that I learn about the experience of these soldiers is to look intently at the nature of their training. One aspect of their training that is of particular interest is the way that soldiers are prepared for deployment to Iraq, which I explore in images such as “Convoy Live Fire Range” and “Privates Duffy, Bronner and Layug.”

These photographs are made with a 4”x5” view camera and printed as 30”x40” c-prints in limited editions of 10.