Bryan Adams' heartstopping images of wounded British soldiers to go on show at Somerset House

Taken over the course of four years, Adams' portraits are an astonishing document of the aftermath of war.

'Silence, a sense of reflection," is the response that Bryan Adams hopes his portraits of wounded British Armed Forces personnel will inspire in those visiting his exhibition at Somerset House over the coming months. But, as tends to be the case with simple ideas expertly executed, one is equally left thinking 'Why has this not been done before?'.

In Wounded: The Legacy of War, he presents servicemen and women from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the injuries they have sustained, matter-of-factly. Their missing limbs, prosthetics and scar tissue are seen by the viewer as part of the subjects as they are now.

It may come as a surprise for some that, as well as building a career as one of the biggest-selling musicians of all time, Adams is also a respected portrait photographer. His first commission in the UK came from Marie Claire magazine in the early 2000s. Wounded came about when he was approached by Caroline Froggatt, an ITN journalist, in 2008. After four years of shooting, the portraits came together as a book.

Adams used this time to first build his subjects' trust. What results are honest, human portraits accompanied by unflinching accounts of what it is like to live with the sorts of wounds that many would preface with 'life-changing'.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bryan-adams-heartstopping-images-of-wounded-british-soldiers-to-go-on-show-at-somerset-house-9826687.html

Didge, the photo's are bad enough but unless you have been there and seen the blood and the smell and human body parts [some of your mates] spread around, the civilian can have no conception of the horror of war. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of others.

Indeed Nicko, I think many people, including myself could not even start to imagine what it is like, even if you watched real footage of the horrors of war. What I find worse is how after they have been through hell we as a nation let them down through lack of support. Thankfully there are organisations like "Help for Heroes" out there.

Brasidas wrote:Indeed Nicko, I think many people, including myself could not even start to imagine what it is like, even if you watched real footage of the horrors of war. What I find worse is how after they have been through hell we as a nation let them down through lack of support. Thankfully there are organisations like "Help for Heroes" out there.

And yet it is what you wish for most of all.

Original Quill wrote:

Brasidas wrote:Indeed Nicko, I think many people, including myself could not even start to imagine what it is like, even if you watched real footage of the horrors of war. What I find worse is how after they have been through hell we as a nation let them down through lack of support. Thankfully there are organisations like "Help for Heroes" out there.

And yet it is what you wish for most of all.  

Again what a load of bollocks, I do not wish for it at all, if I had the choice there would no wars, violence or conflict, Sadly there is and we need to defend against it, which sadly means some will suffer, but it prevents vastly more from suffering. Its about weighing up what is right to do and the needs of the many always outweigh the needs of the few.

Platitudes and bromides. When these kids were being torn apart, I was fighting to bring them home before this shit happened to them!!!

Imagine how hollow all this flag-waving and crocodile tears seem to people like me. These kids were killed and wounded because some cheap bastard conservative wanted to feed his ego and enhance his reputation with their blood. This is the very reason why I called for a war crimes prosecution for Bush and Cheney.

Original Quill wrote:Platitudes and bromides.  When these kids were being torn apart, I was fighting to bring them home before this shit happened to them!!!

Imagine how hollow all this flag-waving and crocodile tears seem to people like me.  These kids were killed and wounded because some cheap bastard conservative wanted to feed his ego and enhance his reputation with their blood.  This is the very reason why I called for a war crimes prosecution for Bush and Cheney.

And some lefty because he never understood what is natural and rational, allowed many innocent people to die, based off a poor misconception that they believe the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many.
People do not want anyone to suffer, they weigh up those risks, sometimes we have to help others, even if it means some will suffer, as we are trying to prevent far more suffering.

I have heard about this elsewhere. I wish I could see the exhibit. I'm sure its extremely powerful.