Veteran Portrait Project

In response to 9/11 the United States launched The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) that spanned 85 countries, with a human toll of 930,000 direct deaths, 4.5 million indirect deaths, 38 million displaced peoples, and cost the U.S. $8 trillion, and created approximately 5.1 million veterans, each with a unique experience and perspective. Amongst the GWOT, the U.S. saw it’s longest campaign in its history with the War in Afghanistan. In 2021 the U.S. conducted a hasty and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and it seemed the GWOT fell from public view. The U.S. quickly shifted its focus to other fronts as the long-standing global order appears to be on the brink of shifting.

To tell the story of those 5.1 million military service members I am looking for veterans to interview and photograph as part of an ongoing project. The objective is to spend a day with veterans and discuss their life before, during, and after service. The portraits will be paired with a short story and included with other veterans portraits and stories and published as a book once the project is finished.

The requirements are that they have served at some point on, or after 9/11 in the US Armed Forces and live within the contiguous 48 states. They must be able to prove their service via DD-214; the nature of discharge does not matter, nor will it be included.