Men & Boys of War
Men and Boys of War is a series of traditional photographic portraits portraying real war veterans and veteran families displayed alongside reenacted battle scenes of the war in which they served. The juxtapositions within the diptychs reveal how war re-enactments are period-piece events that symbolize an idealized past -- one of virtue and simplicity. In these elaborate events, civilian day-trippers play out fantasies of grandeur and heroism, side by side with real life veterans who use these events to cathartically relive personal trauma and attempt to socially re-acclimate within the familiar context of war in the safety of a civilian event.
reenactment: D-Day Conneaut, Ohio Nazi Camp
reenactment: Battle of the Bulge, Fort Indian Gap, PA
reenactment: American Camp, WWII Weekend & Air Show, Reading, PA 15” H x 21” W
Vietnam Veteran Service 1964 - 1966 reenactment: "A" Company, 1/7th Cav. 1st Cavalry Division, Boalsburg, PA
reenactment: Military Museum Vietnam Weekend. Boalsburg, PA
D-day veteran. served 1943-1944 reenactment: D-Day
reenactment: The Battle of La Fiere Stone Bridge Reenactment, Ohio
Marion Gray, Battle of Bulge and D-Day WWII 29th Infantry 116th Regiment: A Co. D-Day Medic reenactment: D-Day Conneaut, Ohio
Vietnam, US Air Force, & Reenactor wearing his original helmet, showing off his Hawkeye Instamatic Camera used in combat, 1971. reenactment: Military Museum Vietnam Weekend. Boalsburg, PA
reenactment: Tanks Parking. WWII Weekend Vehicle Show, Reading, PA
reenactment: Battle of the Buldge Fort Indiantown Gap, PA
reenactment: Partisan Camps. WWII Weekend, Reading, PA
reenactment: WWII Automobile Show, Reading, PA
Vietnam Veteran. Lonesome Polecats 192nd Assault Helicopter Company reenactment: "A" Company, 1/7th Cav. 1st Cavalry Division, Boalsburg, PA
reenactment: Vietnam "A" Company, 1/7th Cav. 1st Cavalry Division, Boalsburg, PA