Category: Civil Wars

A small boy lies curled on a makeshift hospital bed, his body thin with hunger and strain, one hand propping up his head as if the simplest movement costs too much. A dark mark on his cheek and visible injuries on his torso draw the eye, while the rough layering of blankets and clothing hints…

Down a long corridor at Koševo Hospital in Sarajevo, two children move forward with the careful choreography of injury and endurance—one balancing on crutches, the other riding in a wheelchair with a bandaged leg extended. The stark hallway, lined with doors and lit from the far end, turns a routine passage into a quiet stage…

Along the western side of the Berlin Wall, a child’s game unfolds in the shadow of concrete and coils of barbed wire. The boy in a striped shirt leans forward as if tracking a friend or a ball just out of frame, while the fence line—posts, mesh, and sharp wire—turns an ordinary patch of ground…

Barbed wire cuts across the foreground like a scribble of danger, yet beyond it a small scene unfolds with disarming ease: a boy balances along a low concrete barrier while an East German border guard stands close by, rifle at his side. The child’s posture suggests play—testing footing, reaching out, absorbed in the simple challenge…

Arranged like a medical plate, these four portraits—compiled by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office—present starkly different outcomes of arm amputation, each man posed in a studio setting with the calm formality of the era. The subjects sit or stand against plain backdrops, their injuries clearly framed so the level of removal can be studied, compared,…

A seated soldier faces the camera with a steady, unsmiling gaze, his jacket draped loosely so the aftermath of surgery is plain to see. One arm ends above the elbow, the stump carefully positioned on a chair arm, while his other hand rests in his lap as if to hold himself together for the long…

Smoothly turned wood and a simple, trumpet-like profile define this early stethoscope, a tool that looks more like a craftsman’s instrument than a piece of medical equipment. The flat end was pressed to a patient’s chest or back, while the flared cup at the other end carried the sound to the physician’s ear. Its worn…

A young Union soldier turns in profile, letting the camera linger on the harsh evidence of war etched across his cheek and jaw. The shell fragment wounds are unmistakable—ragged marks and deep scarring that transform an otherwise composed studio portrait into a stark medical record. Even without a battlefield in view, the quiet pose and…

Stone walls and a heavy arched gateway dominate the street scene outside a Madrid prison, where uniformed guards and small clusters of men gather beneath bare trees. An armored vehicle sits at the curb like a blunt warning, its angular plating and turreted silhouette underscoring how quickly civic life had been militarized. The architecture—part austere…

From an upper-floor window in Madrid, armed militia fighters lean into the opening and train their rifles outward, turning an ordinary façade into a firing position. A draped blanket or mattress hangs over the balcony rail as improvised cover, while the plastered wall around them is pocked and scarred, hinting at sustained street fighting. The…