The Virginia Quarterly Review: Last Photographs
No quotes for this one. Just read it.
The Virginia Quarterly Review: Last Photographs
No quotes for this one. Just read it.
Powerful photos of Iraq vets in today’s NYT. Here’s one.
[quote]One of the more shocking photographs to emerge from the current Iraq war was taken last year in a rural farm town in the American Midwest. It’s a studio portrait by the New York photographer Nina Berman of a young Illinois couple on their wedding day.
The bride, Renee Kline, 21, is dressed in a traditional white gown and holds a bouquet of scarlet flowers. The groom, Ty Ziegel, 24, a former Marine sergeant, wears his dress uniform, decorated with combat medals, including a Purple Heart. Her expression is unsmiling, maybe grave. His, as he looks toward her, is hard to read: his dead-white face is all but featureless, with no nose and no chin, as blank as a pullover mask.
Two years earlier, while in Iraq as a Marine Corps reservist, Mr. Ziegel had been trapped in a burning truck after a suicide bomber’s attack. The heat melted the flesh from his face. At Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas he underwent 19 rounds of surgery. His shattered skull was replaced by a plastic dome, and a face was constructed more or less from scratch with salvaged tissue, holes left where his ears and nose had been.
. . . “Marine Wedding,” the portrait’s title, was not Ms. Berman’s first encounter with wounded Iraq war veterans. She photographed several others beginning in 2003, and 20 of her portraits were published as a book, “Purple Hearts: Back From Iraq” . . .[/quote]
nytimes.com/2007/08/22/arts/ … 2berm.html
The World Press Photo exhibition at Eslite Dunhua (I think it’s that store) has a large version of this one. Not sure whether the exhibition is still showing or not - if it is, it’s worth checking out.
Wow!
HG
Where is this store located, and does anyone else know if it’s still on?
Did some checking and found out that it ended 2 months ago. How time flies - I coulda sworn that it was only a couple of weeks ago that I went to it.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]Powerful photos of Iraq vets in today’s NYT. Here’s one.
[quote]One of the more shocking photographs to emerge from the current Iraq war was taken last year in a rural farm town in the American Midwest. It’s a studio portrait by the New York photographer Nina Berman of a young Illinois couple on their wedding day.
The bride, Renee Kline, 21, is dressed in a traditional white gown and holds a bouquet of scarlet flowers. The groom, Ty Ziegel, 24, a former Marine sergeant, wears his dress uniform, decorated with combat medals, including a Purple Heart. Her expression is unsmiling, maybe grave. His, as he looks toward her, is hard to read: his dead-white face is all but featureless, with no nose and no chin, as blank as a pullover mask.
Two years earlier, while in Iraq as a Marine Corps reservist, Mr. Ziegel had been trapped in a burning truck after a suicide bomber’s attack. The heat melted the flesh from his face. At Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas he underwent 19 rounds of surgery. His shattered skull was replaced by a plastic dome, and a face was constructed more or less from scratch with salvaged tissue, holes left where his ears and nose had been.
. . . “Marine Wedding,” the portrait’s title, was not Ms. Berman’s first encounter with wounded Iraq war veterans. She photographed several others beginning in 2003, and 20 of her portraits were published as a book, “Purple Hearts: Back From Iraq” . . .[/quote]
nytimes.com/2007/08/22/arts/ … 2berm.html[/quote]
I feel extremely ambivalent about this picture.
I think it is a perfect example of how an unaltered photograph can still “lie.” I remember first seeing this picture on some left-leaning forum months ago and nearly every poster interpreted the woman’s blank expression to mean that she was stunned, shell-shocked, unsure of her future with her husband, or even marrying this man out of pity.
But after reading some other articles about their courtship, the guy’s sense of humor, etc. it’s easy to see that that’s a complete misinterpretation. She wasn’t feeling shell-shocked on the day of her wedding at all. Rather, this is probably one pic from out of a couple of hundred taken on their wedding day, the rest of the pictures showing them kissing, holding hands, happily in love, while this one picture just happened to be taken while she was spacing out for half of a second.[/url]
Regarding the OP’s article…absolutely brilliant. A balanced, powerful, soul searching piece. Great find, Vay.
[quote=“alidarbac”] I feel extremely ambivalent about this picture.
I think it is a perfect example of how an unaltered photograph can still “lie.” I remember first seeing this picture on some left-leaning forum months ago and nearly every poster interpreted the woman’s blank expression to mean that she was stunned, shell-shocked, unsure of her future with her husband, or even marrying this man out of pity.
But after reading some other articles about their courtship, the guy’s sense of humor, etc. it’s easy to see that that’s a complete misinterpretation. She wasn’t feeling shell-shocked on the day of her wedding at all. Rather, this is probably one pic from out of a couple of hundred taken on their wedding day, the rest of the pictures showing them kissing, holding hands, happily in love, while this one picture just happened to be taken while she was spacing out for half of a second.[/url][/quote]
I’m sure you’re right. I’m sure looking at her husband’s melted head has never filled her with incredible grief. I’m sure she never questioned, “why him? why me?” I’m sure she never had the slightest doubts about entering into a committment to spend her entire life with a man with no face, who will always receive stares and rude comments from adults and children for the rest of his life. I’m sure it never entered into her mind that she could break it off and marry someone whose head hasn’t been melted – who appears relatively ordinarily – so her life would be more normal. I’m sure it never occurred to her that to break it off would be a selfish act of cowardice that would cause immense pain (on top of what he’s already endured) to him and others, so she must be strong and do the right thing, and by doing so she would prove herself a great woman.
I’m sure none of that ever occurred to her, but instead she simply shrugged off her husband’s wounds, knowing that what really matters is what’s inside and since that day has never given a second thought to his minor cosmetic differences (not “flaws” or “disfigurement” because those terms carry a wrongfully judgmental tone), and staring into his eyes she feels nothing but bliss.
Damned liberals! :raspberry:
I also suspect the photo may have been digitally altered to make his appearance more scary as a commentary on the US liberation of Iraq.
I second that. thanks for sharing it Vay, as I’ve started J-school and the descriptions are powerful and concise.
cheers for the update
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]I’m sure you’re right. I’m sure looking at her husband’s melted head has never filled her with incredible grief. I’m sure she never questioned, “why him? why me?” I’m sure she never had the slightest doubts about entering into a committment to spend her entire life with a man with no face, who will always receive stares and rude comments from adults and children for the rest of his life. I’m sure it never entered into her mind that she could break it off and marry someone whose head hasn’t been melted – who appears relatively ordinarily – so her life would be more normal. I’m sure it never occurred to her that to break it off would be a selfish act of cowardice that would cause immense pain (on top of what he’s already endured) to him and others, so she must be strong and do the right thing, and by doing so she would prove herself a great woman.
I’m sure none of that ever occurred to her, but instead she simply shrugged off her husband’s wounds, knowing that what really matters is what’s inside and since that day has never given a second thought to his minor cosmetic differences (not “flaws” or “disfigurement” because those terms carry a wrongfully judgmental tone), and staring into his eyes she feels nothing but bliss.[/quote]
That’s very moving MT. You should become a motivational speaker and tour vet hospitals and burn wards.
of all the posts I’ve readby MT, that’s the best one so far in my opinion.
If you like melodrama, then yes, I could see how that would appeal. Has anyone asked this soldier what his views on his sacrifice are?
Remember people that the ones doing the killing are terrorists and thugs. Leaving will not make things better for the Iraqis and what will that mean to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice if the job goes unfinished or even worse deserted? Let’s talk about Vietnam again and the Killing Fields and the Boat People and all of that.
Do you object to the way Viet Nam has turned out? Was it really necessary to send another million or so human beings to their death in order to make a point?
The fact is that Vietnam could be a lot better off today had it not fallen to the Communists. I truly believe that we had beaten both the Viet Cong (1968) and the NVA (1972) and that continued support would have been a small price to pay for the existence of friendly regimes. Ask yourself whether Vietnam (South) could have been at the level of Taiwan and South Korea today and then you will understand. The fact that Vietnam is now close to the US does not change the fact that the suffering was terrible.
I think what you are trying to say is that when vicious forces fight hard and are willing to do terrible things that it would be best for the US not to fight back lest innocent people die.
I also recall that the terrorist bombings of public places in Vietnam were also widespread during the conflict there. Many in the 1970s believed that the Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Chinese, etc. were not civilized and thus not worth saving, certainly there was no hope of bringing democracy or Westernized enlightenment to them. What would you say to that today?
[quote=“fred smith”]The fact is that Vietnam could be a lot better off today had it not fallen to the Communists. I truly believe that we had beaten both the Viet Cong (1968) and the NVA (1972) and that continued support would have been a small price to pay for the existence of friendly regimes. Ask yourself whether Vietnam (South) could have been at the level of Taiwan and South Korea today and then you will understand. The fact that Vietnam is now close to the US does not change the fact that the suffering was terrible.
I think what you are trying to say is that when vicious forces fight hard and are willing to do terrible things that it would be best for the US not to fight back lest innocent people die.
I also recall that the terrorist bombings of public places in Vietnam were also widespread during the conflict there. Many in the 1970s believed that the Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Chinese, etc. were not civilized and thus not worth saving, certainly there was no hope of bringing democracy or Westernized enlightenment to them. What would you say to that today?[/quote]
Ask Tainan Cowboy if he believes the VC or NVA were on the verge of being beaten in '68 or '72. Unless he’s drinking heavily today he’ll tell you you don’t know what you’re talking about.
When you say Viet Nam could be a lot better off today if the commies had been beaten is the difference worth a million human lives?
Funny then that you apparently missed the posts with the assessments of the North Vietnamese political and military leaders on the subject where they admitted they had lost the war militarily but won through the public relations effort.
Would it have taken that if we had stayed? I doubt it and regardless you seem to be ignoring that this was the ACTUAL cost of the Communists winning. And if we are not willing to fight in Vietnam, then also not in Cambodia? Thailand? Malaysia? Singapore? Japan? South Korea? Where?
There seems to be this view that real evil must be accommodated lest innocent people die. Of course, it is all right if the vicious dictators kill them but god forbid that anyone in the West should actually be responsible for the deaths of innocent people. But then, that is what these people count on. You should be congratulated for making things so easy for them. When would you be willing to fight? Let’s say we could end the war on terror right now by all becoming Muslim and living lives ala the 7th century. Would that be worth saving millions of lives to you? Apparently so. Too bad you will never be in a position of leadership that would grant you the authority to sell us out. Incredible.
Load your cap gun and off you go Brave Sir Freddy…
BroonAmmo
Anyone who believes the VC and NVA were just going to give up and go away in 1968-72 doesn’t have the slightest clue what they’re talking about. Right, TC?
I’ll go out on a limb and conjecture they’re probably the same people who believed the Iraqi insurgency was in its last throes in 2004.