Faces of British Soldiers Before, During and After Afghanistan

I love smart and clever ideas.

As I have said on many other occasions, the concept is king.

In the past couple of months I saw two different takes on the same idea.

What toll does conflict take on soldiers in war?

I saw a project by photographer Lalage Snow where she shot a series of portraits of soldiers before, during and after deployment to Afghanistan.

You can read a little more about her project here

I asked her about the portraits.

She came up with the idea as long ago as 2007.

When she was struck by the difference between soldiers prior to deployment and after deployment.

Often good ideas take a little time to mature.

In her own words she says the photo's 'aren't technically brilliant'

She used no lighting 'just ambience hence the vast difference in Afghanistan' and a small amount of post production.

'I had a black sheet I bought from John Lewis fabric dept but it blew away in the wind when a Chinook helicopter landed, so I improvised with black bin bags and gaffer tape which was tricky given the sheen on normal bin bags and perhaps is why some of the shots are in flatter light. but you do what you can in these situations and trust to hope it will be okay in the end'

Amen to that.

The lighting may not be as consistent as one would ideally wish but these were not ideal circumstances.

'Lally' really has told a story with these remarkable pictures.

A cracking idea.

I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.