Category: Civil Wars

Pressed low behind a rough berm of earth and rock, soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division work in tight formation near the Ch’ongch’on River during the Korean War in 1950. Steel helmets and heavy field jackets hint at the season’s bite, while the uneven ground and sparse trees frame a frontline position carved out…

Across a rough patch of ground strewn with straw and debris, a pair of hands works with the careful economy of someone used to making do. A small paper packet printed with Korean script is tipped open, its contents poised above a short metal tube and other improvised pieces. The title “Bullets and gunpowder, 1952”…

Marilyn Monroe stands at the center of a tight ring of uniformed soldiers, her bright smile cutting through the chill suggested by heavy coats, gloves, and fur-lined caps. The men lean in close, grinning and jostling for a place beside her, turning what might have been a routine moment into something lively and personal. It’s…

Under a pockmarked facade in Sarajevo, a small group of children tilt their faces toward the sky, hands shielding their eyes as they search for the fighter jets enforcing the no-fly zone on May 12, 1993. The chipped plaster, exposed brick, and spidering cracks on the apartment wall speak of nearby violence, while the kids’…

Against a rough wall and a gridded window, two boys wear oversized camouflage-style uniforms that mimic the look of Bosnian army fighters. One smiles broadly, half-turned toward his friend, while the other squints with concentration as he extends his arms to aim a real pistol. The contrast between childlike faces and military trappings makes the…

Near Bernauer Straße in West Berlin’s Wedding district, an everyday family ritual plays out in the shadow of an extraordinary border. A father crouches at the curb with camera in hand, lining up a souvenir shot of his two sons posed against the stark concrete of the Berlin Wall. The boys’ neat outfits and tentative…

In Berlin Wedding, childhood moves through a landscape shaped by division: a boy pedals a small bicycle across an empty stretch of street while chalk drawings sprawl on the pavement like a private map of imagined worlds. Behind him, a second child lingers closer to the edge of the frame, dwarfed by heavy masonry facades…

Seated in a wicker wheelchair, Corporal Michael Dunn meets the camera with a steady, unguarded gaze that is hard to forget. His Union jacket is neatly buttoned, his hands rest with deliberate composure, and the plain studio backdrop leaves nothing to distract from the man himself. The title’s stark detail—after the amputation of his legs…

A steady, unsmiling gaze meets the camera in this studio portrait of Francis R. T. Nichols, dressed in a neatly buttoned military-style coat that signals rank and discipline. The plain backdrop and careful pose reflect the formal conventions of 19th-century photography, where character was conveyed through posture, uniform, and expression rather than action. Details like…

Sergeant Hector Sears of the Ohio Volunteers appears in a stark studio setting, posed with a bare torso and an injured arm arranged to make the damage unmistakable. The oval matte and careful lighting draw the eye to his shoulder and upper arm, where the aftermath of battlefield trauma is implied more by posture and…