John Brown

[Hippikos]

Sad and Heroic at the same time.

Semper Fi and my utter respect for the Lady.

John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore.
His mama sure was proud of him!
He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all.
His mama's face broke out all in a grin.

"Oh son, you look so fine, I'm glad you're a son of mine,
You make me proud to know you hold a gun.
Do what the captain says, lots of medals you will get,
And we'll put them on the wall when you come home."

As that old train pulled out, John's ma began to shout,
Tellin' ev'ryone in the neighborhood:
"That's my son that's about to go, he's a soldier now, you know."
She made well sure her neighbors understood.

She got a letter once in a while and her face broke into a smile
As she showed them to the people from next door.
And she bragged about her son with his uniform and gun,
And these things you called a good old-fashioned war.

Oh! Good old-fashioned war!

Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come.
They ceased to come for about ten months or more.
Then a letter finally came saying, "Go down and meet the train.
Your son's a-coming home from the war."

She smiled and went right down, she looked everywhere around
But she could not see her soldier son in sight.
But as all the people passed, she saw her son at last,
When she did she could hardly believe her eyes.

Oh his face was all shot up and his hand was all blown off
And he wore a metal brace around his waist.
He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she did not know,
While she couldn't even recognize his face!

Oh! Lord! Not even recognize his face.

"Oh tell me, my darling son, pray tell me what they done.
How is it you come to be this way?"
He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move
And the mother had to turn her face away.

"Don't you remember, Ma, when I went off to war
You thought it was the best thing I could do?
I was on the battleground, you were home . . . acting proud.
You wasn't there standing in my shoes."

"Oh, and I thought when I was there, God, what am I doing here?
I'm a-tryin' to kill somebody or die tryin'.
But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine."

Oh! Lord! Just like mine!

"And I couldn't help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink,
That I was just a puppet in a play.
And through the roar and smoke, this string is finally broke,
And a cannon ball blew my eyes away."

As he turned away to walk, his Ma was still in shock
At seein' the metal brace that helped him stand.
But as he turned to go, he called his mother close
And he dropped his medals down into her hand.

Bob Dylan

[DanaC]

Utterly tragic.

But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine."

That bit always gets me.

[xoxoxoBruce]

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

[monster]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

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.

[Hippikos]

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

[Clodfobble]

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.

[Sundae]

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.

[Sheldonrs]

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.

[barefoot serpent]

I thought it was going to be this John Brown.

[Elspode]

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.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Elspode

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:

Originally Posted by Elspode

BTW, not all women are externally beautiful. Neither are all men. However, beauty is a sum, not a fraction. If you take up with a person based solely on their external appearances, you're asking for major life trouble.

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?

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by BigV

My friend, may I remind you of your wise words preserved here:

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.

[footfootfoot]

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.

[Elspode]

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?

[footfootfoot]

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.