Benjamin Lowy photographs of Iraq, 2003-2008
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Summary
- Creator:
- Lowy, Benjamin, 1979-
- Abstract:
- The collection consists of thirty-two 9x13 inch untitled digital color inkjet photographs taken by Benjamin Lowy, documenting the U.S. military presence in Iraq from 2003 to 2008. The prints are arranged in two series: Windows and Nightvision. Images in the Windows series were taken from the bulletproof windows of the armored Humvees in which Lowy spent most of his time while on missions in Iraq; they depict street scenes with Iraqi civilians, tanks, soldiers, checkpoints, military impoundments, street life, urban Iraqi culture, and a war-ravaged Iraqi landscape. Taken through U.S. military-issue night vision goggles, photographs in the Nightvision series reveal greenish images of late-night raids, prisoners and soldiers, landscapes, families, women, and street scenes. The images in this collection were published in 2011 as a photobook titled Iraq | Perspectives. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
- Extent:
- 3 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
- Language:
- Material in English
- Collection ID:
- RL.00825
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of thirty-two 9x13 inch untitled digital color inkjet photographs taken by Benjamin Lowy, documenting the U.S. military presence in Iraq from 2003 to 2008. The images were published in 2011 as a photo book, Iraq | Perspectives.
The prints are arranged in two series: Windows and Nightvision. Images in the Windows series, reproduced as sixteen 13x19 inch color digital inkjet prints, were taken from the bulletproof windows of the armored Humvees in which Lowy spent most of his time while on documentary missions in Iraq. The images include street scenes with Iraqi civilians, tanks, soldiers, checkpoints, military impoundments, and images documenting urban Iraqi culture, and a war-ravaged Iraqi landscape. Images in the Nightvision subseries, consisting of sixteen 13x19 inch color digital inkjet prints, were taken through U.S. military-issue night vision goggles, and reveal late-night raids, prisoners and soldiers, families, women, night landscapes, and street scenes.
All the images were shot with a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera and printed on Epson Professional Paper. They are arranged in original order as received from the photographer.
Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Documentary photographer Ben Lowy was born on June 4, 1979. After receiving his BFA from Washington University in St. Louis in 2002, Lowy began his career covering the Iraq War in 2003. In addition to his coverage of Iraq, Lowy has worked in Darfur, Libya, Haiti, Afghanistan, and other countries. Lowy has received numerous awards for his work from World Press Photo, POYi, PDN, Communication Arts, American Photography, and the Society for Publication Design. Exhibitions of his work have been held at the Tate Modern, SF MOMA, Houston Center for Photography, Les Invalides (Paris), and Arles. In 2011, Lowy's Iraq | Perspectives won the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography by William Eggleston.
- Acquisition information:
- The Benjamin Lowy photographs of Iraq were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2011.
- Processing information:
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Processed and encoded by Joanne Fairhurst, November 2012.
Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 2011-0180.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Physical facet:
- 32 items
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.
- Subjects:
- Documentary Photography -- Iraq
Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Pictorial works
War photography -- Iraq - Format:
- Color photographs
Inkjet prints - Names:
- Archive of Documentary Arts (Duke University)
Lowy, Benjamin, 1979- - Places:
- United States. Army -- History -- Iraq War, 2003-2011
Iraq -- Pictorial works
Iraq -- Social conditions
Contents
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Collection is open for research. Images may only be used for educational, non-commercial purposes; any other use requires the photographer's permission.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Benjamin Lowy photographs of Iraq, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.