Working with this in mind I began to research how much waste is produced in the world each year and where the majority of it is accumulated. After some initial research I could find no current statistics for the whole planet, however I did discover that each year the United States of America produces approximately 220 million tonnes of waste per year. The USA makes up around 4% of the world's population therefore one could imagine the amount of waste produced throughout the rest of the world.
With more thorough research I found the Environmental Protection Agency's statistics for the amount of waste collectively produced in 2009 by the United States of America: a total of 243 million tonnes. I found these statistics very shocking as I was aware that a lot of waste was produced but seeing the actual statistics made it even more shocking.
However, on completing this research, I decided that I want to look more deeply into all the meanings of the word 'waste' so as to come up with a more individual approach to the brief. I considered the expressions 'waste of time', 'waste of space' and 'waste of life'. After thinking through each expression I decided to focus on 'waste of life'.
From there I thought about how I could display this saying. I considered people that were despised by society such as criminals and the like and how some would go as far as considering them a 'waste of life'. However this idea did not appeal to me so I began to think of other possibilities of the saying. I then thought of people's reactions when something they had been working on for many years doesn't work out so they may consider it to be a waste of their time and life. After contemplation I decided that I did not want to take this idea further as I felt it was not at all what I wanted to achieve.
My final inspiration came from my best friend who was recently on his rnr from his military tour of Afghanistan. He told me how his platoon had the lowest fatality rate with only 3 deaths and also how he had had to carry his comrade's leg after it was blown off by a land mine. Although gruesome I knew this would be the perfect inspiration to display my idea of 'waste of life'.
As mentioned in the previous post I decided to centre my idea for 'waste of life' around the wasting of lives young and old on the battlefield. Death through war, as is painfully apparent, is not a new occurrence, it has existed for many centuries. A lot of people's lives are wasted through the act of war as, in the words of Don McCulin, "War is never a creative situation, it's about damaging other people's lives" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8492000/8492777.stm). Whether the damage is physical, in the form of loss of limb or death, or mental, such as shell shock or "soldier's heart", it will forever leave a lasting impact on the world and will waste a life that could have potentially achieved so much more.
I decided that, in my images, I wanted to create portraits of soldiers (or those dressed in that manner) that showed the mental and/or physical effects of war on a person. To begin with I am going to research into the history of mental illness in wars of the 20th and 21st century.
Historical Context
To gain a clearer understanding of the mental effects of war on a person I decided to background research its history and find where it was first mentioned and what it largely involves.
The earliest mention of any mental illness, or shell shock, caused by war I could find was in 490 BC in the form of a marble sculpture showing a soldier going blind “without the blow of a sword”. This event is described by a Greek historian who witnessed the scene first hand. This shows that the negative effects war can have on a person are not a new occurrence.
In 1761 an Austrian physician by the name of Josef Leopold Auenbrugger described what he saw as the causes of war related mental illness: “When young men who are still growing are forced to enter military service and thus lose all hope of returning home safely, they become sad, solitary, and full of sighs and moans.” He stated that they finally eased to pay attention and become indifferent to the world around them.
The term ‘Shell Shock’ was first used in the First World War by military physicians to describe soldier’s reactions to trauma in the early years of the war. It commonly manifested itself in a number of ways ranging from amnesia to blind or deafness. Many believed it was a physical reaction to an actual shock to the nervous system which was caused by shelling; however this theory was disbanded when soldiers who had not experienced shelling started to display symptoms.
Let There Be Light (1946), John Huston
In 1946 a film called ‘Let There Be Light’ was commissioned by the United States Army Signal Corps to provide an insight into the lives of 75 US soldiers who had suffered emotional trauma as a result of fighting in the recent world wars. The film itself is very graphic which, in turn, caused it to be very controversial and, upon review, the military banned the film due to its potentially demoralising effect it may on recruitment. It was not until 1980 that it was declassified. The faces of some of the young men in the film display a sense of seemingly complete hopelessness. There is blankness in their eyes as though they are not quite whole in mind; their gaze is distant and somewhat confused. However, some look as though there is nothing wrong with them but, as they begin to speak, it becomes clear the trauma they have suffered and how it is affecting their minds and way of life. They seem almost childlike. Watching this film allowed me to gain a better insight into how shell-shock affects a person and how it makes them appear both physically and mentally.
Vietnam
As more wars arose the occurrence of “combat fatigue” became more prominent still. 1955 brought the start of the Vietnam War and, when it ended in 1975, the term “Post-Vietnam Syndrome” was commonly used to describe soldiers with psychological difficulties as a result of their service. Military physicians observed that the victims experienced “growing apathy ... alienation, depression, mistrust ... expectations of betrayal, as well as an inability to concentrate...” In a survey released in 1990 by a government-funded report, around 15 percent of American soldiers who had severed in the Vietnam War were still suffering from war-related mental health issues fifteen years after the war had ended.
Modern Day Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Troops
After exploring the historical context of ‘shell-shock’ or, as it is now known, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I decided to find some more recent statistics on the condition so as to put it into a more updated context. PTSD was first accepted by the medical community in 1980 and since then soldiers have been required to take a psychological assessment before being allowed to operate in the field. The assessment highlights those who will be more susceptible to the effects of PTSD and will therefore make it easier to help them if needs be.
Moving into the 21st Century and the current ‘War on Terror’, there have been 328 British soldiers diagnosed with PTSD since the start of the war in 2001 (http://ptsdcombat.blogspot.co.uk/2007/03/war-list-oefoif-statistics.html). These statistics show that PTSD is still a very real and unpleasant occurrence in soldiers as it has been for many years.
Research
Initial Research
After exploring the background and effects of PTSD within the military I decided the further my research by looking into some photographers that included military life, and the effects of it, in their work.
Don McCullin
The first photographer I researched was Don McCullin. McCullin is known internationally as a British photojournalist who is widely recognised for his war photography. His work explores the underside of society and frequently depicts the unemployed and downtrodden. He spent a period of National Service in the RAF working as a photographer’s assistant as he failed the written theory test necessary to become a qualified war photographer. During his time photographing in the Vietnam War McCullin’s Nikon camera stopped a bullet that was intended for him.
The image above is from his series in Vietnam. I feel that this image truly portrays the waster of a person as the look on his face shows seemingly no sense of being. The man seems completely absent due to the atmosphere of war around him. This image inspired my project as there may have been endless possibilities that this man may have fulfilled in his life until it was interrupted by the ‘higher cause’ of fighting for your country.
Shaped By War Exhibition
After researching McCullin’s work I found that it really spoke to me and I admired the concepts behind his work and his overall attitude towards war and the way it affects people. From this I decided to visit his Shaped By War exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London.
I travelled to London on the 9th of March for the exhibition and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to view some of McCullin’s work and learn about each piece and the reasons they were taken. It has helped me gain an even further insight into the background of war photography and showed me the possibilities there are when taking these types of images.
Suzanne Opton
Suzanne Opton is an artist who lives and works in the United States. In 2004 she created the series of photographs focusing on soldiers, the Soldier Billboard Project, which is a body of work that explores America’s reaction to the soldiers returning from war in Iraq or Afghanistan. The work incorporates close-up portraits of soldiers resting their heads on a flat surface. The intimacy and vulnerability of the images offers a stark reminder of the realities of war.
I especially like the intimacy of Opton’s work and it enables the viewer to see deep into the soldier’s expression, or lack of, and lets them imagine what these people must have been through in order to have such expressions present.
Claire Felicie
The series “Here are the young men”(The Netherlands – Afghanistan, 2009-2010) show photos of Dutch marines deployed to Afghanistan. These marines are young boys, full of excitement and expectations that are being sent to a war zone. There they are confronted with pain, sadness and death. Will something appear on their faces of these experiences?
The series ‘Here are the young men’ is divided in three subseries:
‘Marked’: black and white triptychs of marines before, during and after their tour of duty to Afghanistan.
‘Armoured’: black and white portraits of marines back from patrol and photos of their good luck charms.
Committed: colour photos of marines on their base Combat Outpost Tabar in Uruzgan, Afghanistan.
I like the intensity of Felicie’s portraits as they, like Opton’s, allow the viewer to see the detail in the faces of the troops and gauge a preliminary understanding of their experiences. The stark contrast in the centre image of the triptychs in comparison to the slightly softer contrast in the other two I feel connotes the harshness of war and how it can change a person both physically and mentally. I would like to create images for my project that have this kind of intimacy.
Louie Palu
The series KANDAHAR TO HELMAND looks war in a different prospective Canadian medics at a Canadian Forward Operating Base are seen standing on a blood stained floor while treating four Afghan civilians one of which later died from his wounds after they suffered injuries from an apparent improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Zhari District Afghanistan.
I feel that Palu’s work is very graphic and, although I would like to emphasise this fact, I feel that maybe they are, although interesting, a little too graphic for this project.
Luc Delahaye
Delahaye is a French photographer known for his large scale colour work. He mainly depicts conflicts, world events or social issues. He has an intense, documentary style to his work with a strong narrative structure. He is a former member of Magnum as he left in 2004. In the 1980s and 1990s Delahaye completed works in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Rwanda and Chechnya.
In an interview Delahaye once stated: "The majority of photojournalists tell themselves they do this work because it is important, that if people can just see these problems in these parts of the world they will do something about them. I have never believed this." I admire his point of view and I agree with him completely. I believe that photographs have the potential to change the world, but that doesn't mean that they actually always will.
The image above is one of Delahaye's most controversial images. An article in the Guardian suggests that he "... turns war photography into an uncomfortable art". The image above of a dead Taliban soldier is a constructed piece by this particular photographer. Delahaye arranged this soldier in a piece that in a way shows a fascination with death and morbidity. It seems to show that careless nature war presents to human life, seen through the unceremonious placing of the body in what could be a wasteland.
Although I find this photograph interesting in the way that the photographer has tailored the subject for a specific purpose I am more interested in creating intimate portraits of people to portray my concept.
Jeff Wall
Jeffrey Wall is a Canadian artist. For this particular project I am going to look into his 1992 series 'Dead Troops Talk'. I feel that this series merges conventions from war and horror genres with those of history to create an almost grotesque narrative.
Like Delahaye, Wall reanimated the dead and positioned them within the photograph to create what seems like a message of waste and an absence of care. The large depth of field allows Wall to display a full scene without one single main point of focus which I feel gives the viewer a lot to consider in terms of the message being portrayed by the photographer.
Conclusion
After conducting this research I feel that I would like to create a series of images taking inspirations from the stark portraits of McCullin and also from the deliberate positioning of Delahaye and Wall. I feel that combining these two inspirations will allow me to portray the message of waste of life through war sufficiently.
