Service Platon Author:Sebastian Junger, Elisabeth Biondi, Platon In this powerful, evocative, and moving — collection of images--many never-before — published--Platon, one of the most acclaimed — contemporary photographers, focuses on the — effects of war on soldiers and their families. Having created over 25 Time magazine covers and succeeding — Richard Avedon as a staff photographer for the New Yorker, — Platon h... more »as become a household name. His evocative portraits
of world leaders comprised a hugely successful previous book,
Power. Now Platon has turned his lens to military service,
embedding himself outside the battlefield in places where so
much occurs that is so rarely mentioned. Given unprecedented
access to U.S. military training facilities, Platon photographed
soldiers preparing for battle in a staged Iraqi village. Aboard
the USS San Antonio, he photographed soldiers the moment
before they set sail. Platon's images capture both joy and
grief, strength and vulnerability, support and dissent: a
young man's t-shirt that reads "Iraq veteran against the war";
an African American woman stands proudly in full military
regalia; a double-amputee stares directly from his wheelchair;
and, in arguably the most important image of the 2008 U.S.
presidential election, an American Muslim mother cradles the
grave of her soldier son. Together, these photographs speak
volumes about the lives and families of those who fight: their
physical and psychological wounds, their extraordinary valor
and often modest backgrounds, and the fierce emotions that