Suzanne Opton's Art Project: Soldier

Haunting, moving, and beautiful.

http://www.soldiersface.com/

Opton's website can be found here -- www.suzanneopton.com

Email interview between Suzanne Opton and Stuart Horodner, 8/22/2008:


Q: How did you conceive the SOLDIER project and gain access to the military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan?

A: I'm interested in portraiture and I was curious to see who these people are who volunteer for the military. Watching them on TV at the beginning of the war, I couldn't really see them. They were always hidden behind so much gear and they were speaking in their role as representatives of the military. My son would be eligible for the draft if there were a draft, and thinking about what it would have been like for him to be in the military, I wanted to see these soldiers as I would see my own son.I called military bases all over the country trying to gain access. I plied them with my credentials as an editorial photographer, but I was turned away. When I called the public affairs office at Fort Drum, the officer asked if it was a political project. I said, "No. It's art. Portraits of soldiers. Just art." They asked when I wanted to come and how many people I wanted to photograph. I was lucky.

Q: What were your goals or expectations for the project?

A: I wanted to make a vulnerable portrait of a soldier. I wanted to stand our idea of soldiering on it's head, because when I think of soldiers I think of how young and vulnerable they all are. I wanted to make portraits that show soldiers as brothers, fathers, sons or lovers.Being a photographer is a license to go where you don't belong. I wanted to know who these soldiers were and I wanted to find out what of their war experience we could see on their faces.

Q: How did you decide on the pose for the soldiers - head down and looking sideways?

A: I had been interested in playing with the idea of a subject laying his or her head down, but it never quite worked out. When I was invited to the army base, I thought this was the perfect situation for this pose.I work slowly with a large format camera. I'm interested in a collaborative sort of portraiture. Even though the photographer has the final power, if you give the subject time, he composes himself for the camera. Richard Avedon once said that people often confess to photographers. It's an unearned and fleeting intimacy, but it can be nurtured. By giving someone a provocative and appropriate pose, and then leaving them alone, their minds may wander and they may bring a revealing aspect to their portrait.

Q: Have the soldiers seen the photos and what do they think of them? Are they aware of the billboard project?

A: I sent one of the black and white standing photographs to each of the 90 soldiers who participated in the project. The first show was in Syracuse NY not far from Fort Drum. We sent out catalogs and invited all 90 soldiers to the opening. I was in touch with some people who said they were excited to come - they'd never been to an art opening. Critic Vicki Goldberg gave the lecture and I thought it would be an evening of art meets the military... But then some soldiers were shipped out shortly before and in the end none of them attended. They were aware of the billboards, but I never heard directly from any soldiers about them. One soldier's mother wrote to me and wanted a print of the image on the billboard. She said that his time in Iraq and Afghanistan was hard on him and his family and "this photograph portrays his trials."

Q: What have you learned about these soldiers through the process?

A: It was very interesting to be on the army base. I had no first hand knowledge about soldiers. We were all struck by the camaraderie, the love between the soldiers we met. One of my assistants was a 21-year old photo student, who said, "My mother would kill me but I'm almost jealous of these guys." They had some powerful things his life lacked - comrades who would risk their lives for each other, a sense of making a difference in the world and a clear mission. Whatever else, we had great respect for that.I didn't understand, however, what the soldiers thought of the photographs. Later I met a Vietnam vet who told me that while in active duty, these portraits are not images that soldiers could comment on. He told me that they would have to wait ten years until they had grieved over the piece of their life they lost, and then maybe the photographs would have meaning to them.

Q: What has been the most surprising or satisfying response to the project?I have been surprised and gratified by the huge response the project has garnered. And when I saw the very large prints I realized that they were like the heads of fallen statues and yet they maintained their intimate quality. I've never liked sentimental imagery, but I think these portraits are both intimate and tough. I have been surprised by people thinking the images are so disturbing and some people thinking the soldiers were actually dead.