Noorderlicht

Warzone

Exhibition and book

exhibition / 5 sep 31 oct 2010

© Jan Grarup

Peter van Agtmael

• AMERICAN WARS (United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, 2006-ongoing)

  Since early in 2006 the freelance photographer Peter van Agtmael has been photographing the consequences of the wars conducted by the United States – at home and abroad. In Afghanistan and Iraq he goes out with the nightly house searches, looking for weapons and bomb-making materials. He shows us how wounded soldiers are evacuated by helicopter and recover in military hospitals. Back in the US he records how soldiers pick up their lives again after all the horrors of the front, and how the families of the fallen deal with their loss.

  

• AMERICAN WARS (United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, 2006-ongoing)

  

• AMERICAN WARS (United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, 2006-ongoing)

  

• AMERICAN WARS (United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, 2006-ongoing)

  

• AMERICAN WARS (United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, 2006-ongoing)

  

Christoph Bangert

• IRAQ: THE SPACE BETWEEN (Iraq, 2005-2007)

  In the spring of 2005, when the sectarian violence in Iraq reached its first peak, the German photographer Christoph Bangert left for the war zone, under assignment from The New York Times. In the years that followed he was one of the few Western journalists to provide pictures of the war. Bangert generally works independently, and only occasionally goes out as an embedded photographer with American, British and Iraqi troops.

  

• IRAQ: THE SPACE BETWEEN (Iraq, 2005-2007)

  

• IRAQ: THE SPACE BETWEEN (Iraq, 2005-2007)

  

• IRAQ: THE SPACE BETWEEN (Iraq, 2005-2007)

  

• IRAQ: THE SPACE BETWEEN (Iraq, 2005-2007)

  

Claire Beckett

• SIMULATING IRAQ (United States, 2008-2010)

  Special sites which copy the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan have been created on military bases in the United States. The local architecture, objects and costumes are all imitated, and American soldiers and civilians play the roles of Iraqis and Afghans. While these sites are intended as imitations, according to Beckett they take on a reality of their own. In any case, for the soldiers they are part of their preparation for the real war in which they will shortly find themselves.

  

• SIMULATING IRAQ (United States, 2008-2010)

  

• SIMULATING IRAQ (United States, 2008-2010)

  

• SIMULATING IRAQ (United States, 2008-2010)

  

Gitta van Buuren

• APPROPRIATING CAMP HOLLAND (2009)

  Since 2003 the Dutch photographer Gitta van Buuren has visited Afghanistan several times – unembedded. In 2009 she stayed in Camp Holland, the base of the Dutch troops in the province of Uruzgan, while she was giving a course in photography in nearby Tarin Kowt for the Afghan staff of Dutch aid organisations and their local partners. While she was there Van Buuren photographed the sitting areas and street signs with which soldiers tried to domesticate their strange – and estranging – surroundings at the base.

  

• APPROPRIATING CAMP HOLLAND (2009)

  

• APPROPRIATING CAMP HOLLAND (2009)

  

• APPROPRIATING CAMP HOLLAND (2009)

  

Kathryn Cook

• THEY ONCE WERE CHILDREN (Rwanda, 2008)

  While the rest of the world looked on, in the mid-1990s hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were massacred by extremist Hutus in Rwanda. The number of victims is estimated at between half a million and a million. The Rwandan genocide has left behind a whole generation of orphans who are traumatised by this bloodbath. Alongside their dreams for the future, in her photographs Kathryn Cook reveals how every day for these living victims is shaped by their memories of the genocide.

  

• THEY ONCE WERE CHILDREN (Rwanda, 2008)

  

• THEY ONCE WERE CHILDREN (Rwanda, 2008)

  

• THEY ONCE WERE CHILDREN (Rwanda, 2008)

  

• THEY ONCE WERE CHILDREN (Rwanda, 2008)

  

Bas Czerwinski

• CEREMONY FOR JEROEN HOUWELING AND MARC HARDERS (Afghanistan, 2010)

  In April, 2010, Dutch Marine Corporal Jeroen Houweling and Marine Marc Harders were killed when their Viking tracked armoured personnel carrier was the victim of a roadside explosive device in the Deh Reshan region of Afghanistan. The flags were lowered to half-mast in Camp Holland in Tarin Kowt, and their colleagues bid them farewell as their bodies passed through the traditional double rank honour guard before being flown back to The Netherlands. This honour guard, which began in the deployment zone and ended by the next of kin, symbolically accompanied and protected the fallen on their final journey.

  

• CEREMONY FOR JEROEN HOUWELING AND MARC HARDERS (Afghanistan, 2010)

  

• CEREMONY FOR JEROEN HOUWELING AND MARC HARDERS (Afghanistan, 2010)

  

Raphaël Dallaporta

• ANTI-PERSONNEL (2004)

  It would appear from the photographs of Raphaël Dallaporta that land mines come in an almost infinite variety of shapes, designs and materials, from a glass land mine and home-made mines to a landmine with the sinister nickname of ‘the broom’, because after it explodes thousands of sharp shards of metal sweep the area, making short work of everything in the vicinity. Dallaporta took the land mines and various other pieces of ordnance out of their ‘natural’ environment and photographed them as an advertising photographer would photograph exclusive watches.

  

• ANTI-PERSONNEL (2004)

  

• ANTI-PERSONNEL (2004)

  

• ANTI-PERSONNEL (2004)

  

• ANTI-PERSONNEL (2004)

  

Ad van Denderen

• OCCUPATION SOLDIER (Netherlands, 2009)

  OCCUPATION SOLDIER shows the training of Dutch soldiers who will be dispatched to conflict zones. When the recruits of the Airmobile Brigade arrive some are no older than seventeen. They arrive in normal civilian dress, a weekend bag in hand. At the Oranje Barracks in Schaarsbergen they bid farewell to civilian life, to become part of Alpha or Bravo company. Six months later they are ready to ship out overseas.

  

• OCCUPATION SOLDIER (Netherlands, 2009)

  

• OCCUPATION SOLDIER (Netherlands, 2009)

  

• OCCUPATION SOLDIER (Netherlands, 2009)

  

• OCCUPATION SOLDIER (Netherlands, 2009)

  

Lodewijk Duijvesteijn

• NECESSARY SUPERSTITION: DUTCH SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN (Afghanistan, 2008)

  In 2008 Lodewijk Duijvestein visited the Dutch troops in the Afghan province of Kandahar. Upon his arrival, he was struck by the difference between the image of the war in The Netherlands and the everyday Afghan reality. ‘Every day it was a very, very awful war,’ as Duijvestein says. No wonder, then, that of the group of soldiers with whom he hung out on his arrival in Afghanistan no one wore a good luck charm – but three months later, no one was without one.

  

• NECESSARY SUPERSTITION: DUTCH SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

• NECESSARY SUPERSTITION: DUTCH SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

• NECESSARY SUPERSTITION: DUTCH SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

• NECESSARY SUPERSTITION: DUTCH SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

Stephen Dupont

• TALIBAN BURNING (Afghanistan, 2005)

  In October, 2005, American soldiers in Kandahar set the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters on fire. Using the speaker on their Humvee they broadcast the message that the Taliban were ‘cowardly dogs’ because they let their comrades be burnt with their face to the west. It turned out the action was the brainchild of the little-known Psychological Operations unit, and was intended to 'smoke out' the Taliban. Stephen Dupont was stationed with the combat unit involved as an embedded journalist, and recorded the incident. As a result of the international outcry about the incident, PsyOps of this sort were replaced by a politics of cultural sensitivity.
  
  

  

• TALIBAN BURNING (Afghanistan, 2005)

  

• TALIBAN BURNING (Afghanistan, 2005)

  

• TALIBAN BURNING (Afghanistan, 2005)

  

• TALIBAN BURNING (Afghanistan, 2005)

  

Sake Elzinga

• DUTCHBAT MEMORIES (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2008)

  Dutchbat, the Dutch battalion of UNPROFOR, the peacekeeping force for the former Yugoslavia, will always be remembered for their connection with the deaths of 7500 Muslim men. Overrun by Ratko Mladíc's Bosnian-Serb troops and limited by an inadequate mandate, in the ‘safe’ enclave of Srebrenica Dutchbat collaborated with the separation of Muslim men and women. After their deportation, the men were murdered by Mladíc’s troops. More than a decade after the fall of the enclave, Sake Elzinga photographed the deserted buildings of the former Dutchbat base in Portocari, near Srebrenica. These are quiet images – serene, but with an undertone of a guilty past.

  

• DUTCHBAT MEMORIES (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2008)

  

• DUTCHBAT MEMORIES (2008

  

Claire Felicie

• HERE ARE THE YOUNG MEN (Netherlands, Afghanistan, 2009-2010)

  The Dutch Marine Corps is an elite unit that does not admit women. Their training is regarded as one of the most demanding in the Dutch armed forces. In her photo series HERE ARE THE YOUNG MEN, Claire Felicie investigates who the young men are who would choose this training, and how they coped with their dispatch to a war zone. For that, she photographed the marines of the 13th infantry company before, during and after their tour of duty in the Afghan province of Uruzgan. In addition to the men themselves, she also photographed their good luck charms and the ‘message for a loved one’ that she asked them to write.

  

• HERE ARE THE YOUNG MEN (Netherlands, Afghanistan, 2009-2010)

  

• HERE ARE THE YOUNG MEN (Netherlands, Afghanistan, 2009-2010)

  

• HERE ARE THE YOUNG MEN (Netherlands, Afghanistan, 2009-2010)

  

• HERE ARE THE YOUNG MEN (Netherlands, Afghanistan, 2009-2010)

  

Sander Foederer

• TIME OFF (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

• TIME OFF (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

Balazs Gardi

• THE VALLEY (Afghanistan, 2007)

  In 2007 the Korengal Valley was one of the deadliest places on earth for American troops. This pass in north-east Afghanistan, several kilometres long, is ringed by steep mountains. The permanent presence of hostile fighters makes confrontations unavoidable: nearly a fifth of all fire-fights in Afghanistan take place in this valley – and three-quarters of all the bombs NATO drops are dropped there. Balazs Gardi joined the American troops and photographed the fighting.
  
  

  

• THE VALLEY (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

• THE VALLEY (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

• THE VALLEY (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

• THE VALLEY (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

Rafal Gerszak

• PLATOON (Afghanistan, 2008-2009)

  In the eastern Afghan province of Khost, American soldiers and Afghan security troops guard one of the most strategically significant passes in the region. Their mission is to protect the most important highway that links Khost with the capital, Kabul. On their return home, it becomes clear just how high the price is that these soldiers pay for this dangerous work. Several of the soldiers have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and one committed suicide. In the meantime, their colleagues from the platoon get ready for a new tour of duty in Afghanistan.

  

• PLATOON (Afghanistan, 2008-2009)

  

• PLATOON (Afghanistan, 2008-2009)

  

• PLATOON (Afghanistan, 2008-2009)

  

• PLATOON (Afghanistan, 2008-2009)

  

Jan Grarup

• AFGHANISTAN (Afghanistan, 2008)

  Since it was formed in 2001, NATO's ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) operation has been responsible for promoting security in Afghanistan. In practice, during the first years the NATO troops never got outside of Kabul. Their sphere of operations has expanded in phases since October, 2003, at first toward the north. There troops from Germany and other NATO members have been active in the mountainous desert regions, as recorded by the Danish photographer Jan Grarup.

  

• AFGHANISTAN (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

Jeroen Hofman

• PLAYGROUND (Netherlands, 2009-2010)

  In PLAYGROUND Jeroen Hofman photographs the surreal training environments used by police, fire brigades and defence forces. At various places around The Netherlands whole towns and factory complexes have been recreated, where realistic scenarios can be simulated so well that the gap between training and practice is almost eliminated. Hofman's project is being made possible in part by a subsidy from the Anna Cornelis Fund and the Sem Presser Archive Foundation, and is still ongoing.

  

• PLAYGROUND (Netherlands, 2009-2010)

  

• PLAYGROUND (Netherlands, 2009-2010)

  

• PLAYGROUND (Netherlands, 2009-2010)

  

• PLAYGROUND (Netherlands, 2009-2010)

  

Michael Kamber

• DEATH OF A SOLDIER (Iraq, 2007)

  One morning in 2007 the photographer Michael Kamber went out on a foot patrol with American soldiers. Along a dirt track, in the deathly silence of the rising sun, one of the soldiers stepped on a land mine. He was killed instantly, and four of his colleagues were wounded. Later that day another soldier was killed by a sniper. Kamber found that the experience showed the nature of the guerilla war in Iraq: they had never seen an enemy combatant the whole day, but there were still two casualties.

  

• DEATH OF A SOLDIER (Iraq, 2007)

  

• DEATH OF A SOLDIER (Iraq, 2007)

  

• DEATH OF A SOLDIER (Iraq, 2007)

  

• DEATH OF A SOLDIER (Iraq, 2007)

  

Giuliano Koren

• FOB TODD (Afghanistan, 2008)

  The beginning of the ISAF mission, in late 2001, also marked the beginning of an Italian presence in north-western Afghanistan. Guliano Koren followed the Julia Brigade of the 8th Regiment of Alpine Troops, who are stationed in the town of Bala Morghab. There, together with American and Afghan soldiers, they garrison a Forward Operating Base. The village has always been a focus for weapons smuggling from nearby Turkmenistan. Particularly the countless groups of Taliban militants in the region profit from this. The atmosphere in the region therefore remains tense, without any prospect of improvement. It's the sort of place where there is not much difference between war and peace.

  

• FOB TODD (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

Jeroen Kramer

• UNTITLED (Iraq, 2006)

  ‘War is shit,’ said an anonymous S.A.S. officer once, ‘and anyone who says differently hasn't been close enough to it.’ With plenty of experience in photographing in war zones, Jeroen Kramer knows how true that statement is. ‘I portrayed war like something in a Hollywood film,’ he says. ‘I regret that now.’ In an attempt to capture something of the sentiments that battle releases in soldiers, Kramer photographed the graffiti that they leave behind on the walls of their toilets.

  

• UNTITLED (Iraq, 2006)

  

• UNTITLED (Iraq, 2006)

  

Antonin Kratochvil

• LANDSCAPES OF WAR (Iraq, 2003)

  Spring, 2003. Beneath clouds of dark smoke, British troops advance on Basra, one of the largest cities in Iraq, the country's most important port and the centre of oil production in the region. In his war landscapes Antonin Kratochvil documents the scars these troops left behind.

  

• LANDSCAPES OF WAR (Iraq, 2003)

  

• LANDSCAPES OF WAR (Iraq, 2003)

  

Kalpesh Lathigra

• ANGLO AFGHAN WAR (Afghanistan, 2006)

  For nearly nine years now British troops have been fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan. By now names like Kandahar and Helmand are as familiar to our ears as is the words 'roadside bomb'. However, Kalpesh Lathigra is not interested in combat operations. He wants to know what makes the lives of soldiers in a war zone possible. Lathigra shows us well-lighted tents with air conditioning, hot showers and spotless, stainless steel toilets. Except for the sky, and an occasional translator, there is nothing Afghan to be seen. Not even any dust.

  

• ANGLO AFGHAN WAR (Afghanistan, 2006)

  

• ANGLO AFGHAN WAR (Afghanistan, 2006)

  

• ANGLO AFGHAN WAR (Afghanistan, 2006)

  

• ANGLO AFGHAN WAR (Afghanistan, 2006)

  

David Leeson

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007)

  As a news journalist the American photojournalist David Leeson specialised in photographing wars and social unrest. All around the world he reported on countless conflicts. Leeson is firmly convinced that he can change things with his images of war. ‘Thus,’ he says, ‘when we raise the camera to our eye we should seek to see with our heart.’

  

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007)

  

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007)

  

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007)

  

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007)

  

Benjamin Lowy

• PERSPECTIVES (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  When Benjamin Lowy received a telephone call from his mother in 2005, asking him if he had had a chance to go out shopping with Iraqis, he had to explain to her that something like that was impossible, because it was too dangerous. PERSPECTIVES was Lowy’s attempt to visualise the perspective from which he had to experience Iraq – namely through the widow of an armoured vehicle. These images not only make the danger of everyday Iraq palpable; Lowy’s windows are also a metaphor for the barriers that stand in the way of real dialogue.

  

• PERSPECTIVES (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  

• PERSPECTIVES (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  

• PERSPECTIVES (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  

• PERSPECTIVES (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  

Christopher Morris

• TOMMY FRANKS (United States, 2002)

  The United States's military operations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the east coast of Africa are directed from the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida. The attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001 and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 were among the operations coordinated from there. Both actions were led by Tommy Franks, at that time the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Command. In his series bearing Franks's name, Christopher Morris captured the everyday course of events for Franks and his command centre.

  

Louie Palu

• GARMSIR MARINES (Afghanistan, 2008)

  In Afghanistan's Helmand province, American marines are involved in daily battles with rebels. This extremely violent region is known as the ‘snake head’, after the pattern that a chain of villages appear to make from the air. The average age of the marines fighting there is 21. Many of them have already done several tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Louie Palu did portraits of them after their return from patrols.

  

• GARMSIR MARINES (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

• GARMSIR MARINES (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

• GARMSIR MARINES (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

• GARMSIR MARINES (Afghanistan, 2008)

  

Paolo Pellegrin

• AT THE UN (United States, 2005)

  War has many faces. In Lebanon and Kosovo, among other places, the Italian photographer Paolo Pellegrin saw what sort of suffering armed conflicts can bring about, but he has also paused to look at the other side of geopolitics. In 2005 he did a series on John Bolton, the hawk and UN criticaster who was appointed as American ambassador to the United Nations by George W. Bush – an appointment that brought down considerable criticism on the then American president's head.

  

Martin Roemers

• KABUL PORTRAITS (Afghanistan, 2002)

  Martin Roemers photographs the consequences of conflicts and wars. For KABUL PORTRAITS Roemers did portraits of Dutch soldiers in the ISAF, the international force that was to provide security for the new Afghan government and its capital. For these he used an antique dry plate camera that he borrowed from an Afghan street photographer. The exposure times ran ten seconds per photo. For his series BETWEEN HOSTILE NEIGHBOURS, in 1999 and 2000 Martin Roemers followed Dutch NATO soldiers in Kosovo for eight months, where Serbs and Albanians were still out for each other's blood.

  

• KABUL PORTRAITS (Afghanistan, 2002)

  

• KABUL PORTRAITS (Afghanistan, 2002)

  

• KABUL PORTRAITS (Afghanistan, 2002)

  

• BETWEEN HOSTILE NEIGHBOURS (Kosovo, 1999-2000)

  

Moises Saman

• WAR, A PERSONAL JOURNEY (Iraq, Afghanistan, 2001-2009)

  Determined to record the conflicts of his generation, over the past years Moises Saman has travelled through the conflict areas in the Middle East. Working under extraordinary circumstances in countries that are scarred by war made a deep impression on Saman. While the people of Iraq and Afghanistan fight for a better future, the photographer realised that in recording the many conflicts, he himself has changed.

  

• WAR, A PERSONAL JOURNEY (Iraq, Afghanistan, 2001-2009)

  

• WAR, A PERSONAL JOURNEY (Iraq, Afghanistan, 2001-2009)

  

• WAR, A PERSONAL JOURNEY (Iraq, Afghanistan, 2001-2009)

  

• WAR, A PERSONAL JOURNEY (Iraq, Afghanistan, 2001-2009)

  

Paul Seawright

• HIDDEN (Afghanistan, 2002)

  In Paul Seawright's HIDDEN the violence lies chiefly under the surface. The minefields in Afghanistan conceal a deadly menace that cannot be seen, but is nonetheless palpably present. Because of the threat which emanates from them, places of great beauty take on a deeper, at times richer meaning. The violence in these landscapes is latent, waiting, until the moment of destruction presents itself.

  

• HIDDEN (Afghanistan, 2002)

  

• HIDDEN (Afghanistan, 2002)

  

• HIDDEN (Afghanistan, 2002)

  

• HIDDEN (Afghanistan, 2002)

  

Jérôme Sessini

• IRAQ 2003-2007 (Iraq, 2003-2007)

  On November 8, 2004 the American army launched a large-scale offensive on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The city was a Sunni bulwark where thousands of resistance fighters under the command of al-Zarqawi, the reputed leader of al Qaida in Iraq, were in hiding. Embedded with Charlie Company of the American Marines, Jérôme Sessini recorded how the Marines went from house to house to eliminate the resistance fighters and pile up their corpses.

  

• IRAQ 2003-2007 (Iraq, 2003-2007)

  On November 8, 2004 the American army launched a large-scale offensive on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The city was a Sunni bulwark where thousands of resistance fighters under the command of al-Zarqawi, the reputed leader of al Qaida in Iraq, were in hiding. Embedded with Charlie Company of the American Marines, Jérôme Sessini recorded how the Marines went from house to house to eliminate the resistance fighters and pile up their corpses.

  

• IRAQ 2003-2007 (Iraq, 2003-2007)

  

• IRAQ 2003-2007 (Iraq, 2003-2007)

  

• IRAQ 2003-2007 (Iraq, 2003-2007)

  

Christopher Sims

• THEATER OF WAR: THE PRETEND VILLAGES OF IRAQ (United States, 2005-ongoing)

  Like the media, the American army also creates its own version of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. For instance, the Army takes its Virtual Army Experience on the road to airshows and NASCAR races. There kids can play games that brilliantly but bloodlessly simulate the thrill of warfare. Afterwards they can meet decorated soldiers who have returned from the front. On remote army bases in North Carolina, Louisiana and California the army has built copies of villages that are always in one or another imaginary land – Talatha, Braggistan, or just plain ‘Iraq’. Here soldiers train for their tour of duty on the front.

  

• THEATER OF WAR: THE PRETEND VILLAGES OF IRAQ (United States, 2005-ongoing)

  

• THEATER OF WAR: THE PRETEND VILLAGES OF IRAQ (United States, 2005-ongoing)

  

• THEATER OF WAR: THE PRETEND VILLAGES OF IRAQ (United States, 2005-ongoing)

  

• THEATER OF WAR: THE PRETEND VILLAGES OF IRAQ (United States, 2005-ongoing)

  

Matthew Sleeth

• TOUR OF DUTY (East Timor, 1999-2000)

  In a referendum in 1999 the people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia, which had annexed their country in 1975. To suppress the civil war which broke out after the referendum, INTERFET (International Force for East Timor) arrived in September, 1999. This UN mission was led by Australia, which for decades had supported the occupation of East Timor. Matthew Sleeth photographed the activities of the peacekeeping force and concluded that rather than cleaning up the mess which Australia had helped to create, they were chiefly busy with conducting PR.

  

• TOUR OF DUTY (East Timor, 1999-2000)

  

• TOUR OF DUTY (East Timor, 1999-2000)

  

• TOUR OF DUTY (East Timor, 1999-2000)

  

• TOUR OF DUTY (East Timor, 1999-2000)

  

Lalage Snow

• 10%-90%: DIGITAL FRONTLINE (Afghanistan, 2007-2008)

  War is 90% waiting and 10% fighting, according to an old saw. In 10%-90%: DIGITAL FRONTLINE Lalage Snow zooms in on the ten percent that consists of fighting. The series shows only a fraction of the battlefield action, but also shows how the deployment of modern technology has increasingly changed the face of war and made it more complex. THINKING OF HOME shows the other 90%: the total boredom of the soldiers and their Spartan living conditions on the front in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

  

• 10%-90%: DIGITAL FRONTLINE (Afghanistan, 2007-2008)

  

• 10%-90%: DIGITAL FRONTLINE (Afghanistan, 2007-2008)

  

• 10%-90%: DIGITAL FRONTLINE (Afghanistan, 2007-2008)

  

• 10%-90%: DIGITAL FRONTLINE (Afghanistan, 2007-2008)

  

Martin Specht

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  Death is the essence of war, according to the German photographer Martin Specht. As a correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan he again and again sought out the heat of battle. Embedded with American troops, he experienced a great number of moments in which soldiers were wounded or killed. Soldiers were ambushed, blown up by bombs or hit by incoming rockets. Some soldiers who Specht met would soon after die in battle. This destructive essence is the heart of his photo series from Iraq.

  

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2007-2008)

  

Svenn Torfinn

• PATRICK CAMMAERT (Congo, 2005)

  Few Dutch have a more powerful role on the international stage than Patrick Cammaert. The Major General of the Marines was commander of the battalion of Dutch Marines in Cambodia and was Assistant Chief of Staff of UNPROFOR in Bosnia. After a command in Ethiopia he climbed to the position of First Advisor to Kofi Annan. In 2005 he was appointed as commander of the eastern division of the UN mission in the Congo, which is to establish peace and stability in a region where the chronic civil war has claimed millions of victims. The Dutch photographer covered Cammaert’s mission in the Congo.

  

• PATRICK CAMMAERT (Congo, 2005)

  

• PATRICK CAMMAERT (Congo, 2005)

  

• PATRICK CAMMAERT (Congo, 2005)

  

Teun Voeten

• KORENGAL VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN, JUNE 2007 (Afghanistan, 2007)

  In 2007 the Dutch photographer Teun Voeten spent twelve days as an embedded journalist with an American unit. The unit was stationed in the Korengal Valley, the most dangerous region of Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the skirmishes were limited to one ambush. While he was with them, the activities of the Americans were largely dominated by a diplomatic offensive: shortly before, the soldiers had accidentally shot two young men to death. During the negotiations, discussions and consultations Voeten recorded the mistrust of the Afghan population, as well as the mutual cultural incomprehension.

  

• KORENGAL VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN, JUNE 2007 (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

• KORENGAL VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN, JUNE 2007 (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

• KORENGAL VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN, JUNE 2007 (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

• KORENGAL VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN, JUNE 2007 (Afghanistan, 2007)

  

Eddy van Wessel

• IRAQ, AS SAMAWAH, DUTCH ARMY (Iraq, 2004)

  In the course of his career Eddy van Wessel regularly visited Iraq. The first time was in 1995, when Saddam Hussein was still president. He was there again in 2003, when the Iraqi army was defeated by the Coalition troops. Van Wessel joined the soldiers in their march on Baghdad. In the same year Dutch troops were stationed in the south of Iraq, at As Samawah. In his series from As Samawah Van Wessel recorded the lives of the Dutch soldiers.

  

• IRAQ, AS SAMAWAH, DUTCH ARMY (Iraq, 2004)

  

• IRAQ, AS SAMAWAH, DUTCH ARMY (Iraq, 2004)

  

• IRAQ, AS SAMAWAH, DUTCH ARMY (Iraq, 2004)

  

• IRAQ, AS SAMAWAH, DUTCH ARMY (Iraq, 2004)

  

Luke Wolagiewicz

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2006-2008)

  The picture that the vast majority of the public have of war is largely shaped by an endless daily flood of news images. We see American soldiers searching homes, vehicles being blown up by suicide bombers, Iraqi security troops being trained. However necessary and even matter-of-course the presence of such images is, they shove less obvious aspects of war into the background. In his work Luke Wolagiewicz tries to capture the other side in images. He is in search of the surreal and claustrophobic atmosphere of danger, and tries to reveal those moments of insight that occur in the midst of chaos and violence.

  

• IRAQ (Iraq, 2006-2008)