They Speak For Themselves

Spc. Robert Acosta — Photo: Nina Berman

A New York gallery, Jen Bekman, has a powerful summer show of photographs by Nina Berman of wounded Iraq War veterans. You can find images here, and more of them in Berman's book Purple Hearts: Back From Iraq and on her website. Holland Cotter has a review in today's New York Times.

Along with the photographs of wounded soldiers made by James Nachtwey, these are some of the most affecting pictures I've seen of the costs inscribed on the human body by the war in Iraq. No matter what you think of that war, it would be fair to say that over the past few years Berman has paid more compassionate attention to American veterans than their own government has.