Falling in Love at the End of the Universe

My brother went to war. Robert, my brother, flies Apache helicopters.

During his two tours of duty my family and I lived in a heightened state of fear and anxiety.

I often wondered how much time he spent being afraid. We don’t talk about the specifics of his experience.

The subjects of these photographs are wives, mothers, siblings, cousins and friends of soldiers.

They stand in as witnesses for the traces, the dust, the ash, the scent of what’s been lost and what’s been endured and what is still happening.

Making images of the family members of soldiers that have served in the Iraq and/or Afghanistan war is a way to have a dialogue with a surreal experience.

Ideally, the photograph can serve as a vehicle to illuminate the myriad and shared stories of loss, separation and hope.

Ultimately these images are made in recognition of what Joseph Campbell coined, ‘The joyful participation in the sorrows of the living.’

tfullert@msn.com