The eyes that reveal the trauma of war: Haunting portraits show Marines before, during and after service in Afghanistan

The eyes that reveal the trauma of war: Haunting portraits show Marines before, during and after service in Afghanistan


By LYDIA WARREN


Hardened stares, averted gazes – these are the portraits documenting the changes war inflicts on its serving soldiers.
While the pictures – of Dutch Marines before, during and after deployment in Afghanistan – may not be shocking at first, they subtly hint at the soldiers' inner transformations.
They are the work of Dutch photographer Claire Felicie, who followed 20 marines between October 2009 and September 2010 to see if their faces were altered by their experiences.


Struggle: Remon, aged 21, from the 1st Battalion, 13th infantry company of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, was one of the 20 soldiers Claire Felicie photographed before, during and after deployment to Afghanistan


Knowing: Nicky, 22. In each set of portraits, the men are pictured before, during and after from left to right


Unsure: Danny, 20. Felicie said the internal changes were more obvious in some of the young men.

Each of the men, from the 1st Battalion, 13th infantry company of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, was photographed before, during and after six months service in Afghanistan.
Felicie, a photographer for ten years, started the project when her son Tristan joined the Marines and told her one of his friends was being posted to Afghanistan.