What Patriotism Means to Those Who Fight

3 minute read

Having created over 60 magazine covers of portraits—everyone from world leaders like Vladimir Putin to entertainment personalities such as Stephen Colbert—Platon has become a household name. In his latest book, the British-Greek photographer has turned his lens on U.S. soldiers, embedding himself in lesser known places beyond the battlefield.

“I’ve experienced all the handlers you can imagine and all the egos and authority and power,” Platon tells TIME. “I wanted to focus on a different kind of power, something more authentic.”

The series, commissioned in 2008, was Platon’s first photo-essay assignment as staff photographer for the New Yorker, which had redoubled its editorial attention to the war in Iraq. At the time, the Presidential elections were nearing final results and criticism of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was mounting. The series became not only a tribute to military men and women but a reminder that all are stakeholders in the betterment of this country—something Platon says is relevant now more than ever.

“I never imagined that the ideas kicked around that we all hoped we’d overcome have returned to haunt us again,” Platon says. “With the rhetoric flying around in this current campaign, these pictures are cause to stimulate new respectful debate and help cure society’s amnesia.”

The essay, published now as a book, is a visual diary of U.S. soldiers and their families before and after their tours of duty, following soldiers through graduation at West Point; training in a staged Iraqi village; aboard the USS San Antonio moments before setting sail; and their return home to their loved ones.

The images examine what patriotism means for the families of those who fight: A young man’s t-shirt reads “Iraq veteran against the war”; an African American woman stands proudly in full military regalia; a double-amputee stares directly from his wheelchair; and, in arguably the most important image of the 2008 U.S. presidential election, an American Muslim mother cradles the grave of her soldier son. All in harsh black-and-white.

“It’s uncompromising,” he says. “You can’t gloss it over or find the middle gray. I wanted people to feel the grit, not just in the training but in the love and the loss.”

Platon is a portrait photographer based in New York City. His book, Service, is available now from Prestel. His work will be on exhibition at the Milk Gallery in New York, starting June 22 and kicking off with an artist talk on April 23.

Rachel Lowry is a writer and contributor for TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Located in the Mojave Desert, just 130 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Fort Irwin is the only military base in the United States with the necessary space and topography for desert battlefield training. In the summer, soldiers train in temperatures that average well above one hundred degrees. Fort Irwin, 2008.Platon
Alu Banarji, a role player and cultural affairs consultant, plays a civilian in Medina Wasl, the Iraqi village inside the NTC. Soldiers are trained in cultural sensitivity, such as techniques to search women wearing abayas or burkas without touching them. Fort Irwin, 2008.Platon
Using special effects, this Hummer explodes into flames multiple times a day in Medina Wasl, a mock Iraqi town at the NTC. Fort Irwin, 2008.Platon
The USS San Antonio, an amphibious landing ship, was designed to deliver more than seven hundred marines ashore by boat and helicopter. Its motto: “Never Retreat, Never Surrender.” While deployed, the USS San Antonio conducted counter-piracy operations around the Horn of Africa. Norfolk, 2008.Platon
Airman First Class Christopher Wilson greets his fiancée, Beth Pisarsky, after returning from a six-month deployment in Iraq. Wilson is a member of the 305th Security Forces Squadron of the 305th Air Mobility Wing. McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, 2008.Platon
Command Sgt. Maj. Gabriel Cervantes (left) and Col. Burt Thompson (center) of the First Stryker Brigade Combat Team, with Interpreter John Mardo (right). There are thirteen enlisted ranks in the US Army, from private to sergeant major of the army. Officers range from second lieutenant to general of the army. Fort Irwin, 2008.Platon
Cadet Kevin Kniery the day before graduation. West Point, May 30, 2008.Platon
Staff sergeant with loved one. McGuire Air Force Base, 2008.Platon
Hilarion Warren Joseph, a decorated veteran of the first Gulf War, with his son, Japeri, who wears the jacket from Joseph’s US Army uniform. Joseph returned from war suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and attempted suicide three times. New York City, 2013.Platon
Jessica Gray was widowed at age twenty-six by her husband, Staff Sgt. Yance T. Gray, who was killed in Baghdad in 2007 while serving with the Eighty- Second Airborne Division. He was also survived by a five-month old daughter, Ava Madison Gray. North Carolina, 2008.Platon
Gunnery Sgt. Marcus Wilson with his son. Wilson lost his leg after an IED exploded under his truck while serving in Iraq in 2006. The three other Marines in the truck at the time were killed. Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 2008.Platon
Prosthetic legs. More than one thousand soldiers have lost limbs in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The majority of amputations came as a result of injuries inflicted by IEDs. Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 2008.Platon
Chaplain Maj. Ann Tang (left) at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Military chaplains help soldiers to cope with losses of spirituality, innocence, intimacy, and the ability to see the world as a safe place, 2008.Platon
Petty Officer 3rd Class Smith on the USS San Antonio. Norfolk, 2008.Platon
Elsheba Khan at the grave of her son, Spc. Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, 2008. Spurred by the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Khan, a Muslim, enlisted immediately after graduating high school in 2005 and was sent to Iraq in July 2006. He was killed a year later. Platon

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