Many Wars


  • Photographer
    Suzanne Opton
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Opton Photography
  • Date of Photograph
    2009-2010
  • Technical Info
    4x5 color film

Portraits of American veterans from five wars who were in treatment for combat trauma at the time the portrait was made. I photographed in the group therapy room at a Veterans Administration clinic in Vermont. I often ask a small performance from my subjects. In the case of "Many Wars" each veteran wore a simple piece of fabric. I thought this simple device would allow them to represent themselves as alternately a monument, a boy with a cape, a warrior, a homeless person, martyr or saint.

Story

In 2004–2005 at Fort Drum, New York I photographed soldiers
between tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. I wanted to look
beyond the heroics in order to make an intimate and vulnerable
portrait of a soldier. I asked each person to lay his or her head down
before the camera. The photographs framed just the head and neck.
After presenting these "Soldier" images as public art in many cities, I
shifted my focus to the trials of coming home from war. In 2009, with
the support of a Guggenheim Fellowship, I began making portraits
at a Veteran’s Administration clinic in Vermont.

These "Many Wars" portraits depict veterans from Iraq/
Afghanistan, Vietnam, the Cold War, and World War II. The majority
of the veterans in these photographs were in treatment for combat
trauma at the time we met. With the cooperation of VA counselor
Jim Dooley, I set up my view camera in the group therapy room.

I often prefer to photograph people at our first encounter
and I like to add an element of performance to the tradition of
photography as evidence. Each veteran was cloaked in a piece of
upholstery fabric. I thought this simple device would allow them
to represent themselves as alternately a monument, a boy with a
cape, a warrior, a homeless person, martyr or saint. The improvised
uniform would highlight personality and at the same time present the
veteran as a noble character. This idea carries a historical reference:
I learned that combat trauma has been an issue with similar roots
since the time of Homer.

You can create multiple entries, and pay for them at the same time.
Just go to your History, and select multiple entries that you would like to pay for.