 |
Kuni Takahashi, a Japanese news photographer working for the Boston Herald, was one of the first photojournalists to accompany the American Marines to the frontline of the Iraq war. There he too faced the realities of those who were involved and suffered in the conflict. This non-fiction book depicts the lives of young American soldiers who simply regarded their mission as a way of earning their bread-and-butter. Most of those interviewed said, “Let’s finish it quickly” and “I want to go home as soon as possible”. However, the soldiers were forced to confront death sooner or later, sometimes as a tragic result of so-called friendly fire. This book details how the statue of Saddam Hussein was dismantled and destroyed and how Iraqis plundered the Presidential palace. It also recounts the ransacking of shops and offices which followed Saddam’s demise.
The photos and text show great empathy with ordinary Iraqi people who had no choice but to get involved in the war. It relates how the author himself actually felt and thought as he witnessed events. Both children and adults alike will be challenged to think about and feel the reality of war by reading this book.
Kuni Takahashi was born in Sendai, Japan in 1966. He moved to the United States in 1990 to learn photojournalism at the New England School of Photography in Boston. After 8 years as staff photographer at the Boston Herald he joined the Chicago Tribune as a staff photographer in 2004. He has won numerous photography awards including the Boston Press Photographers Association’s Photographer of the Year Award (1996 & 2003), Associated Press Member Showcase’s Picture of the Year and National Headliner Awards’ Best of Show in Photography, 2003 as well as Japan's Kyoichi Sawada Award for this book. |
|
 |
