In this photo essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman reflects on Adam Ferguson’s portraits of American service members taken during the war in Afghanistan.
Ferguson’s images, made in Helmand, Kunar, and Wardak provinces, capture quiet moments between firefights while revealing the physical and emotional traces of combat.
Afghanistan and the Memory of War
Ackerman connects Ferguson’s photographs to the lived experience of American troops, including Marines and soldiers who served in Marjah, the Korengal Valley, and Outpost Restrepo.
Portraits of Service Members
The essay examines the details within the portraits, from soaked boots and torn uniforms to tattoos and green sneakers, as markers of memory, hardship, and identity.
What Veterans Carry
At its center, the piece asks readers to look closely at those who served and to ask what they have seen, endured, and carried home from the Afghanistan War.