An-My Le

So in an attempt to get me using the library more than just research for my projects each week the aim is to showcase

a book, first up is An-My Le's Small Wars which is broken up into 3 black and white photo essays; Viet Nam, Small Wars

29 Palms. Viet-Nam the homeland of the photographer shows us the country in not the war torn, poverty stricken country

that we know from the 60's, but an updated version of the mid 90's of growth and regeneration, there are subtle reminders

of the past, a bullet ridden wall, a destroyed building the backdrop for a farmers field.

Small wars the first series of staged wars shows Viet-Nam veterans re-enacting scenes from the Viet-Nam war in a forrest in

Virginia.

29 Palms presents an American West being used to perform the war in Iraq, training the marines for the conditions they

are going to endure when in battle, a performance the marines pay three different roles, that of themselves but also both as I

Iraqi police and terrorists with anti-American graffiti in the villages and the marines, the scenes are so realistic that if the context

was not given you may be mistaken to believe they are actually images from the war itself.

Anyway here are some images from the book.