Portraits of soldiers before, during, after going to Afghanistan
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Photographer, journalist and filmmaker Lalage Snow shot this series of portraits of British soldiers over a period of seven months, before, during and after their operational deployment to Afghanistan on Op Herrick 12. They speak of fear, being injured, losing a brother soldier, missing home, excitement, coming home, and what life is like on the frontline. Snow, who trained with the soldiers prior to their deployment to Afghanistan, found that being a woman had some advantages and helped the soldiers relax. ‘They didn’t have to be super macho around me or feel threatened’. [read more about this series at Feature Shoot]
24 comments
boris Friday 9 November 2012
No credit to Claire Felicie?
http://clairefelicie.com/category/marked
Freja Tuesday 26 February 2013
Thanks for the credit where it’s due, Boris. Always like to know who the artist is.
Susan Friday 16 November 2012
Curious. The lighting makes a difference of course, but somehow the after photos look more handsome.
Larry Saturday 24 November 2012
…and where are the photos of the ones who didn’t come back?
Larry Thursday 4 April 2013
They didn’t turn up to the photoshoot.
lego pig Wednesday 5 December 2012
Being in Afghan probably has nothing to do with, people change as they get older naturally. Obviously their diet will have changed so that would explain the thinner look on their faces. Nothing shocking here.
Probably? Absolutely not. Sunday 19 May 2013
My friend. These soldiers served in Helmand province, one of the last frontiers of the Taliban influence. Everyday they were getting either rocketed bombed and shot at or all the above. Witnessing danger and uncertainty from one moment to the next.
After 9 months in Afghanistan as a combat soldier I lost nearly 30kg. So many close calls and lost three of my mates. I have been home for almost 2 years and I still jump at every thud or car door shutting. It is a life changing experience externally, most of internally as a person.
Super Guys Thursday 6 December 2012
Did anyone notice the eye colors change? especially the fourth persons. the middle one has both eyes with different colors
Grace Tuesday 26 February 2013
YES. I thought it was very strange that a few of them seemed to become bluer eyed in the during photos. trick of the light?
Deborah Friday 7 December 2012
In every photo, I see that the middle pictures, when at war, has widened eyes, display more alertness, fear, and gaunt features, while in the last, eyes appear defeated and soulless. There is a huge difference between before and after that is not just the natural aging process, to me.
Nazita Wednesday 12 December 2012
I agree with Deborah. The facial expressions in the “during” photos are much more tensed, eyes widened. But I disagree on the before and after pictures. I felt that in the “after” pictures, the eyes have a bit more soul and I think mainly because these soldiers have experienced and have seen a lot more of life outside the confines of their homes and country. The “before” pictures have a gentler, more naive look — the eyes are more blank.
Matt Thursday 13 December 2012
Great concept & very emotive but disappointing that the photography isn’t consistent with the style of lighting. If all were shot like the middle images, the overall result would have been outstanding
Sophie Friday 21 December 2012
Matt is right, that’s a shame that the lightning is not the same at least for the before and after pictures. But anyway I agree with Deborah, they look more anxious on the “during” picture, and some of them are really thiner in the after picture, whereas some almost look as healthy as before, but their eyes look more tired, sad, kind of disillusioned.
nathan Wednesday 16 January 2013
Agree with Deborah. i thought the same thing when I was looking through..
Amazing stuff.
judith Tuesday 29 January 2013
the first photo’s show inexperienced “young men” the second shows stress, worry, tiredness, the third shows a fully fledged “MAN”, and a MAN in every sense of the word, good on you guys, jobs well done…be proud.
Junaid Monday 4 February 2013
It’s called aging.
Missy Saturday 23 February 2013
I don’t think that much aging occurs over 7 months for those of us who DON’T go to war. This was pretty damn cool.
B-Dog Friday 29 March 2013
It may be that there are major differences in the subjects themselves, as suggested above, or it may be that people are simply projecting their own assumptions onto photographs that in fact differ mainly in their lighting.
If you are going to do something like this, you need to really try to control for all relevant camera settings, lighting, etc. This may have been difficult in Afghanistan, but there is no reason it should be different in the before/afters. Use a room without natural light, with marks for the subject and camera placements, and recreate the lighting set-up and camera settings exactly. It’s painstaking, but not really that hard. Interesting project but disappointing execution.
Matt Friday 29 March 2013
Appears to be a good diet plan. Of course MRE’s will do that to you. Did the same thing to me when I was in.
Joe Saturday 6 April 2013
wow these are great, love how the eyes look focused in the ‘during’ section and also how relaxed some of the eyes are in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ sections. Great stuff
Remi Thursday 11 April 2013
Fucked up forever…
for a bit of oil
Richard Mahony Friday 19 April 2013
The photos tell the same military story as always. Take overweight, pudgy unfit young men and turn them into warriors.
The only time my wife’s father was the right weight was during his national conscription in the early fifties. He was spoilt rotten at home by his doting and rather dotty mother, by his father, and by his two elder sisters. He didn’t have to lift a finger and was waited on hand and foot. Boy, was his time during conscription a shock to him. He lost so much weight his mother almost had a heart attack when he came out. She immediately fattened him right back up of course and he’s struggled with his weight ever since. For the last decade, he’s been morbidly obese and has had two hip operations in the last five years. He’s now in Sot’on General Hospital to have a pacemaker fitted.
Sorry to disillusion the well-meaning but ignorant sisterhood, but men are meant to fight. We’re not meant to lounge around all day, gawping at the footy. But that’s of course what we do if given half a chance.
Life is a crock of shit for most men. If you’re a bloke, the best way to live and die is to live and die for your mates. Oil, Queen and Country don’t come into it. Wife and family is a ritual men go through to satisfy and placate women, especially their mothers. Deep down, men, real men, love their fellows more than anyone else because only other men understand what it is to live and die like a man.
kleally Friday 19 April 2013
Has anyone else thought that maybe it’s irresponsible to post photos of soldiers who have fought in Afghanistan on the internet? It’s not so entirely ‘out there’ to imagine that this could be putting them and their families at risk.
Chris Friday 19 April 2013
The middle pictures, are Flash lit.
This can cause pupils to dilate, and is also a cause of the Shadowing of the faces, which suggests stress.
The effect of diet and exercise, and stress, in a War zone adds to the above.
But to me, as a documentary Photographer, the methods tells more than the subject in this case.