Abstract

Carnage Captured is a project that I designed to honor the sacrifice of our veterans and represent the physical and mental toll that comes as a result of their service for our country. As the visibility of mental health grows, I want to shed greater light on a demographic that is often overlooked. Within this project, I conduct interviews with veterans in my local community to better understand their experiences and shed light on unforeseen aftermath active duty has on these vulnerable subjects. Photography is my chosen medium for this project, capturing staged photographs using toy soldier action figures. My work is meant to crucify the objectification of soldiers, often cast aside by society as mere statistics, and attempts to bring recognition to their traumatic experiences in hopes to bolster awareness of their needs for mental health support. As an artist, it is important to me to portray this concept in a way that doesn’t make light of what many have gone through in the past and what many may experience in the future. Furthermore, this project aims to explore the fracturing of the mind and body as a result of dramatic and horrific experiences through combat. These effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are widespread and can vary as a result of the diversity found within contemporary conflicts. By shining a light on these heroes and what they continue to go through, I hope to educate my audience that the injuries they sustain are not simply physical

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