June 3, 2006
The Coleman Center is pleased to announce the opening of Vietnam War Veterans: Portraits and Stories, by Jeffrey A. Wolin. This series of documentary photographs provides a present day look at Vietnam Veterans, and presents in the Veterans’ own words, their memories, stories, and reflections.
Wolin originally began the series as a Guggenheim Fellow in 1992 simultaneously with Written in Memory: Portraits of the Holocaust, a similarly structured series of images and stories of Holocaust survivors, published by Chronicle Books in 1997. As Wolin points out, the subjects of Written in Memory were aging and dying as a group, so it was not until 2003, when the US entered into the Iraq War, that Wolin returned to the Vietnam Veterans project.
Wolin himself says, “From the Iliad onward, war has been a major theme in art and literature. With my Holocaust portraits and now with the portraits of Vietnam Veterans, my photographs make a contribution to our understanding of how the trauma of war affects both combatants and civilians caught in the crossfire. Many important issues of war and peace emerge in the war stories and in the portraits themselves. Many veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some still wear their Vietnam War medals. Some fight for veterans’ medical issues or make art or write books about their experiences. Others have found ways to put their experiences behind them. All were deeply and permanently affected by the war.”
The photographs will be on display from April 28 to June 4, 2006, and a closing reception will be held at the Coleman Center Altman-Riddick Museum Gallery on June 3rd from 2 to 4 PM. The Coleman Center is also arranging fieldtrips for area schools and organizations. If you are interested please contact the Coleman Center at 205.392.2005, or email info@colemanarts.org. Additionally, you can read more about this work at www.jeffreywolin.com.