Artist and Photographer Suzanne Opton is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of these portraits.  From the ‘War Series – Soldier’.  To see Suzanne’s body of work, click on any image.

SOLDIER: BOSIACKI – 364 DAYS IN IRAQ

SOLDIER: KITCHEN – 366 DAYS IN IRAQ

SOLDIER: OPEKA – LENGTH OF SERVICE UNDISCLOSED

SOLDIER: KIMBALL – 287 DAYS IN AFGHANISTAN

The Soldier portraits were made with the cooperation of the military at Fort Drum army base. The soldiers I met were between tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We all experience strategic moments when we feel most alive.  Whether transcendent or horrific, these are the moments that we will always remember.  In making these portraits, I hoped to photograph the invisible. I thought that by looking into the face of a young person who had witnessed something unforgettable, we might imagine what he or she had seen or done, or not done.

By virtue of the slow process of working with a large format camera, the subject’s mind may easily wander during the session. In this fashion, although conscious of being looked at, the subject may be lost in thought when the exposure is made. Although the implication of being shot down was likely not lost on these young men and women, the pose is also intimate – like seeing someone opposite you with his or her head on the pillow.

SOLDIER: WHITE – LENGTH OF SERVICE UNDISCLOSED

SOLDIER: L. JEFFERSON – LENGTH OF SERVICE UNDISCLOSED

SOLDIER: MICKELSON – 350 DAYS IN IRAQ

SOLDIER: PRY – 210 DAYS IN AFGHANISTAN

SOLDIER: MORRIS – 112 DAYS IN IRAQ

All images and text © Suzanne Opton

See also:

Still Standing | War Series

By Suzanne Opton