Suzanne Opton (Bucks)

Soldier
July 7 - October 21, 2007
Betz Gallery-James Michener Museum

New York based photographer Suzanne Opton presents an unusual, thought-provoking perspective on a complex and emotionally-charged subject. Beginning in 2005, Opton received permission to make portraits of military men and women shortly after each soldier's return from Iraq or Afghanistan. These soldiers were living at Fort Drum, New York, and had been overseas for at least a hundred days; they had come back for additional training and possible reassignment to Iraq or elsewhere. Using a 4 x 5 view camera, Opton devised several strategies for these portraits, including traditional views with face and upper torso as well as more unusual images in which she asks the soldiers to lay their heads down on a table. She also includes wives and sometimes other soldiers in the portraits, often focusing on close-ups of heads and hands. These unusual and moving images put a human face on the people who are literally on the front lines; as Opton says, "In making these portraits of soldiers, I simply wanted to look in the face of someone who'd seen something unforgettable." Suzanne Opton's work has been exhibited internationally, and has been featured in such publications as The New York Times and Newsweek. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts.