John Brown
 

Sad and Heroic at the same time.

Semper Fi and my utter respect for the Lady.

Utterly tragic.

That bit always gets me.

Try to read the expression on the brides face. Serious? Scared? Confused? :(

She's not a happy camper is she? I'd say she might be someone who would rather be in jeans and a t-shirt and does not like posing for the camera. That expression appears in a few of our photos -notably on my passport and immigration pics.

At least she's standing there with her man for all to see. Very courageous, whatever face expression.

I have mixed feelings about this photo.

On the one hand, obviously they are a genuine couple, and their lives have been forever altered and they are both heroes in their own way. On the other, I feel like this photo was taken to deliberately manipulate emotions. No one has an expression like that in their wedding photos--think about it, if she's decided to stick with her man and make the best of what's happened, she's going to try to smile and do just that. This is absolutely not the wedding photo that will be going on their wall, you know what I mean?

I see two possibilities:
1.) This is a candid shot they weren't expecting--her face looks sort of blank to me, and he's not looking at the camera at all. I have a few wedding photos where my face is all contorted, but that's because I was in the middle of saying something, not because my wedding day was wretched.
2.) They want to make a statement against the war, so they deliberately posed for a serious shot. They have clearly consented for the photo to be used, whether it was posed or just an accidentally poignant shot.

I guess what I'm saying is, I feel like the sadness of their situation is somewhat tarnished for me by my suspicions that it is being intentionally used as a political statement. I don't trust the look on the bride's face (or the implied look, I guess), and that makes me feel bad that he (they) are being exploited. I dunno. Maybe I sound like an ass. The whole thing just makes me uncomfortable.

I assume the photo was chosen by the photographer, as the link is to a photography contest open to professionals. The couple would have agreed to allow the photo to be entered (I assume) but may not have had any control over which picture was submitted.

I agreed that it looks like a candid shot - one where neither participant was ready for the photo.

The picture is just sad to me. It made me cry when I openned it.

I know I could not live if that had happened to me.

They must be very brave.

I thought it was going to be this John Brown.

I believe we now have the winning answer to the question posed in this thread.

Tragic doesn't begin to describe it. This girl, so young, so beautiful, and still true to the man inside what could easily be described as a monster's form. To know that she will always kiss a face that would revile most other young women her age, to know that she will tend this man through countless more surgeries, trying to remediate the horrific damage done to him...would that I could only taste the smallest sample of such strength.

But the soldier shows his mettle as well, by taking his bride wearing the uniform of the very agency of his maiming. By having been tough enough, brave enough, desirous enough of a life with his intended to see through the tortures of his injuries.

Look hard at that picture, folks. *That* is the price of freedom. Let us hope that no leader ever squanders the precious contents of his or her purse, but instead views this photo before committing their best and bravest to such a fate.

My friend, may I remind you of your wise words preserved here:While I find the groom's appearance startling at first, I don't find any tragedy in it. Instead I find hope and joy.

Good grief, what's the man supposed to do otherwise? Just go away and stop offending my sensibilities? And the lovely bride shows that her comely outward appearance is matched by a similarly flawless character of devotion and discernment?

What do I know from just one photo? Nuttin. It could be a gag, he could be wearing a mask, she could be an insurance money golddigger and he could be and uncouth lout. Anything.

But what I think is behind this one photo is hope. Who gets married without being filled with hope?

Ah, but my statement above was intended to contrast the young woman against what I perceive to be a defacto societal norm. My words were in admiration, not criticism.

Clearly, the bride knows that beauty is only skin deep; knows it with every fiber of her being. I simply meant to illuminate that quality within her.

While there is indeed hope in what is pictured, there is also tragedy. Despite all the love and support in the world from his bride, the soldier will experience pain from his appearance, because the world and the people in it are not, all in all, as deep as the bride in the end.

That is one of a series of photos by a photog named Nina Berman who is doing a project called "purple hearts".

Frankly, I'm a bit skeptical at her motives. Her production values (eg lighting choices, composition) are bordering on ghoulsih and bizarre and, IMO, lack sincerity or heart.

If you compare her work to, say, W. Eugene Smith's, Sebastian Salgado's, or Margaret Bourke-White's, you can see for yourself.

Her work looks more like something by Gregory Crewdson.

I'm not quite certain of the criticism, F3. Are you saying that the photographer is intentionally trying to make things look worse than they ought to?

I'm saying a few things, none of which is charitable about the photographer.

1. I feel she is capitalizing on the suffering of the soldiers. The feeling I get from looking at the photos is that it is about her rather than them.
2. She uses the technical and aesthetic aspects of photography to push her ideas about her subject. It is extremely far from objective and it is also manipulative. Not that it should be objective, but it is important to point that out since it isn't always obvious to people that the camera does in fact lie the moment it is turned on.

As an example, the lighting is very controlled and managed, in some cases almost surreal. Maybe she wants to underscore how surreal it must be to experience what those people have experienced, so she chooses to make the lighting extra spooky. In any case, that is her adding to what is happening, possibly projecting her ideas onto these people. Compare "Tomoko in her bath". Gene smith photographing the victims of mercury poisoning in Minimata, Japan. He didn't need to do anything fancy with the lighting or pose his subjects. He was there with them keeping his heart and eyes open. Look at Salgado's work. He shows you what life is like for his subjects by telling their story, not his story about them.

It's not that she's trying to make things look worse than they ought to, it's that she's using cheap carnival tricks to make a point and I feel that trivializes her subjects. If she had real talent she wouldn't have to rely on the gimmics to make your tears flow.

In the end, it's all about her.