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Female marine recruits engage
in "Combat Swim." Although
some recruits arrive at basic
training without even knowing
how to swim, they must take to
the water in full battle gear
with a 40-pound pack,
and a M-16 rifle,
Parris Island, South Carolina,
October 2002.
Photographer Lauren Greenfield
© Lauren Greenfield/VII
Staff Sergeant Daniel Callahan of the "Wild Bunch" takes a break near a bullet-scarred Iraqi police station following an intense battle,
an Najaf, Iraq, March 2003.
Photographer
Christopher Anderson
© Christopher Anderson/VII
Refugees flee the
ongoing fighting,
Basra, Iraq, March 2003. Photographer Antonin Kratochvil © Antonin Kratochvil/VII
During the three weeks of Coalition Air Raids on Baghdad Iraqis burned oil fires in and around the city in a desperate attempt to blind jet fighters and fool guided missiles,
Baghdad, Iraq, April 2003.
Photographer Alexandra Boulat
© Alexandra Boulat/VII
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WAR
United States – Afghanistan - Iraq

16 Mars 2005 - 15 January 2006


The war against terror waged in retaliation for the attacks of 11 September has mobilized countless journalists on the frontlines at Ground Zero, in Afghanistan and in Iraq. So why do we have the vague feeling that the human reality of the fighting, the violence and suffering that are part of war, have escaped the notice of this unprecedented media onslaught?

In a coincidence that could only happen to true professionals, the VII (pronounced seven) photo agency was founded in New York on 9 September 2001 by seven photojournalists who wanted to keep control of the distribution channels for their photos: Alexandra Boulat, Ron Haviv, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Christopher Morris, James Nachtwey and John Stanmeyer. The seven were later joined by Christopher Anderson and Lauren Greenfield.

The pictures James Nachtwey took in the ruins of the World Trade Center have helped shape the apocalyptic image of the New York tragedy. VII’s multifaceted photo essay covers the period from 11 September 2001 to July 2003, shortly after Baghdad was taken. Each of the fifty-four pictures on display here gives us reason for pause: could this have happened? did it happen? is what we’re seeing not someone’s fabrication of events? Some of the scenes may shock us; the movies and even the televised news have probably accustomed us to a sanitized view.

In what is a remarkably coherent approach, the photographers of VII remind us that war, real war, is a reality in which all humanity is hurt.