Even cherished memorial traditions fade as new generations adopt new practices to memorialize the wars, deaths, and other public losses that they deem significant. For example, I had never heard of "buddy poppies," traditionally worn on Memorial Day to honor veterans, until my grandmother lamented their disappearance among younger generations. Photographic portraits of veterans are a proven entity in museums and, to my mind, photography memorializes soldiers and wars. But will these photographs always serve that function—and do they even now?
In a New York Times article on photographer Nina Berman, Holland Cotter writes about the niche she fits:
Ms. Berman adds no direct editorial comment to the presentation. She has said in interviews that she started photographing disabled veterans soon after the war began mainly because she didn’t see anyone else doing so. In what may be the most intensively photographed war in history, the visual documentation has been selective.
Cotter introduces a few questions. The ongoing war in Iraq might be the most intensively photographed war in history because this is an explosive era for photography—with digital cameras and Flickr and other applications opening up photography to new audiences and users. Yet, the number of photographers (professional and "citizen" included) who were picturing veterans was few. If the visual documentation is "selective," what are they selecting for?
Perhaps the Vietnam War, with its famous photographs of fleeing villagers and rooftop airlifts, changed popular expectations for wartime photography. Photographs of veterans aren't foremost among the famous photographs that survive the Vietnam War era. In any case, there is a qualitative difference between Civil War veteran portraits (some of which may be seen on SAAM's second floor) and photography from wars since. Berman's photographs show why these works are so valuable: Long after the political context fades, these works will serve as a reminder of the national consequence and sacrifice.
Turning the lens toward those older photographs, though, reveals that the reasons we appreciate them now diverge from the reasons they were originally commissioned. SAAM's veteran portraits "were specifically done to document the medical treatment for certain injuries, and were used for the education of the next generation of doctors," according to SAAM's head of publications, Theresa Slowik. "Most of the ones held by the National Library of Medicine are accompanied by text explaining the treatments." Berman's incredible "Marine Wedding" series is also accompanied by explanatory text.
