Category: Civil Wars

Morning light falls across the ribbed metal bed of a pickup truck in Vitez, where a Bosnian soldier’s body lies stretched out in fatigues and boots. The setting beyond the tailgate feels almost pastoral—fields, fence posts, and trees—yet the still figure turns that quiet landscape into a scene of wartime reckoning. Without ceremony or protection…

Graves stretch across Hero’s Cemetery in Sarajevo, their simple markers and scattered flowers forming a raw landscape of loss during the Bosnian War. In the foreground, cellist Vedran Smalovic sits with his instrument held close, his bow lowered, one hand covering his face as grief overtakes him. The scene is stark and intimate, turning a…

Across a scarred wall, the words “Welcome to hell!” stretch in hurried graffiti beside a crude skull-and-crossbones, turning a city street into a warning sign. A lone woman moves quickly along the edge of the pavement, head bowed, clutching a bag as if speed and silence might offer the only protection. The rough ground, crumbling…

A boy steps toward the camera with the swagger of a soldier, gripping scavenged pieces that read like toys only at a distance, while behind him other children scatter across a battered street. The wall to his left is flaked and scarred, the ground is littered, and the casual summer clothing clashes with the hard-edged…

A knitted cap pulled low and a heavy coat wrapped tight, a young Bosnian girl holds her puppy with the careful firmness of someone protecting the last warm thing in reach. Her expression is quiet and guarded, eyes fixed forward as the small dog rests in the crook of her arms. The tenderness of that…

Rain presses down on a waiting crowd, turning a patch of grass into an impromptu shelter line as umbrellas bloom in every direction. In the foreground, older onlookers huddle close beneath a shared canopy, their coats and patterned knits suggesting a chill beyond the weather. Across from them, a child stands apart with a translucent…

Seated in a formal studio pose, Robert Smalls meets the viewer with a steady, slightly distant gaze that suggests both caution and resolve. His dark suit, crisp shirt, and bow tie project the public image expected of a statesman, while the watch chain across his vest adds a subtle note of prosperity and order. Against…

Canvas tents rise behind a cluster of Union officers posed in an unusually relaxed moment at Falmouth, Virginia, in 1863. Gen. Fitz-John Porter’s staff—among them Lt. William G. Jones and George A. Custer—arrange themselves on chairs, crates, and the grass, some with pipes in hand, their frock coats and tall boots still crisp despite camp…

Debbie A. Hughes sits with a steady, unguarded composure, her gaze meeting the camera in a quiet statement of purpose. The plain studio backdrop and simple chair keep attention fixed on her face and uniform, where dark fabric and practical lines hint at work meant for long hours rather than ceremony. Even in a posed…

Mary Jewett Telford appears here in a quiet studio portrait, turned in profile with a composed, watchful expression. Her hair is neatly gathered back, and the soft collar and lace detail of her dress lend the image a restrained formality typical of Civil War–era photography. The pale background and gentle fading around the edges draw…