This project explores the effects of the US led wars in the Middle East on the people left in the United States, primarily focusing on soldiers and their families, but also looking at the results of the protracted and divisive conflicts on American culture.
As the United States continues to overtly fight the "War on Terror" on two foreign fronts, Afghanistan and Iraq, an often ignored subject is that of the lasting effects of these conflicts on the people left at home. The families of those fighting overseas are the unseen victims of long deployments, lost loved ones and depression.
Not only is there a physical cost to the conflicts, but a cultural rift has occurred across the country. A very few are directly connected to the fighting, as it is an all volunteer military for the 1st time in history. This allows for an emotional. In many rural areas one can drive past signs of well wishing for troops overseas but pass through more affluent towns and one could miss the war entirely.
These photographs hope to explore the contrasts of the cultural divide while also paying attention to the lives lost and destroyed by the continuing conflict.