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Photographer Jennifer Karady
captures
the intersection of civilian and military worlds in the lives of returning veterans.
Her project, called “Soldiers’ Stories From Iraq and Afghanistan,” shows a series of subjects in staged narrative photographs. Karady has been working on the project for eight
years
.
Before the photograph happens, Karady interviews each subject about their experience of war and the influence of those memories on their present lives.
“We are looking to identify a moment from war that’s come home with the person into the civilian world,” she said.
After identifying that moment, Karady and the veteran restage that memory in a civilian environment to examine the collision between the two worlds. The process takes on average a month.
“You get this sense of a collision or collapse between these two worlds, and trying to represent something that’s invisible…what it feels like for the veteran to come home and sometimes experience two different realities at once,” she said.
On display, the photographs are accompanied by written or spoken pieces by the subjects describing their stories in their own words.
Karady said she works to establish a safe space while discussing traumatic memories with veterans.
Karady’s work speaks to veterans’ humanity, Spc. Andrew Floyd, one of the subjects in the project, said. “We are ordinary individuals put in extraordinary circumstances,” he said.
Warm up questions
- What are some of the wars the United States has fought in your lifetime?
- Do you know any veterans? Which war(s) did they fight in? Have they ever talked about their experiences with you?
- What is the definition of art? What is your favorite kind of art? How do you connect with it? Hint: Art doesn’t just have to be paintings, but can be music, dance, etc.
Critical thinking questions
- What kinds of emotions and memories might veterans bring back from war? How might they deal with these difficult feelings and memories in a civilian setting?
- How does the artist use intersections to create her art?
- Why do you think it takes her a month to produce one piece of art?
- How does the artistic experience help veterans heal from trauma? How might the art help the families and friends of veterans to understand their loved ones better? Explain your answer.
