Artists’ military photographs show another side to Middle East conflict

The GCSU Museum now features two new photographic exhibits, “War on Terror: Inside/Out” and “Soldier Portraits.” The two exhibits, which opened Sept. 10, feature pictures highlighting the military and the U.S. fight against terrorism.

“War on Terror” showcases the art of two photographers, Christopher Sims and Stacy Pearsall. Sims’ pictures center on the cultural training that soldiers receive before going to Iraq and Afghanistan. His pictures of the professional role-players who occupy fake villages in military posts around the country provide a glimpse of military training that not many people see on a regular basis. Pearsall, a former Air Force combat photographer, focuses on deployed American soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts in action.

“War on Terror” began at the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston, in a debut that coincided with the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. It went on to receive national attention with an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in February 2009.

“Soldier Portraits” shows the work of Ellen Susan. Using a photography technique called “wet plate collodion,” a technique in common use back around the time of the Civil War, Susan made portraits of over 40 U.S. soldiers. The exhibition shows 14 select portraits, with the rest available online at www.soldierportraits.com.

Senior political science major Charles Barkman felt that the arrival of the exhibits was very timely.

“It just kind of brings it all back, that there are people out there fighting for us,” Barkman said.

Jess Ollom appreciated the feelings behind the art.

“I liked how it gave kind of a human aspect to it as well,” Ollom, a senior math and psychology major, said.

Both Ollom and Barkman would “definitely” recommend the exhibit to others, with Barkman adding, “I thought it was very well done, very nicely put together, a good representation. I thought it was really good.”

In an artist talk at the opening of the exhibits, the three photographers discussed their motivations and techniques. Sims said that his interest in the military began when he moved to Savannah and realized that he had never paid much attention to servicemen and women. He became increasingly interested in covering the military, and in the process, encountered the fake villages of Talatha and Braggistan.

“The villages serve as a strange and poignant way-station for people heading off to war and for those who have fled,” Sims said. “U.S. soldiers interact with pretend villagers who are often immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan, who have found work in America playing a version of lives they have left behind.”

“For the past 12 years, I have witnessed the depredations of war and immeasurable kindness of humanity. I cannot express in words what I have seen and lived to those who have not been privy to it,” Pearsall said, adding, “I will continue to use my vessel of expression in the hopes that I can do my part in bringing about change for the future.”

Susan said that she saw her photography as a way to “provide a counterpoint to anonymous representations seen on television and in newspapers”, adding, “I don’t think you can see anybody’s soul in any photograph, but if the appearance is compelling enough, it lets you imagine that you can, and then consider the face and the person it belongs to and what they might be all about.”

Both exhibits are open to the public, free of charge, at the GCSU Museum, Mondays through Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Soldier Portraits” will remain at the museum until Oct. 15, while “War on Terror” will close Nov. 28.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 18 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry