After the United States entered World War I, photographer
Art & Society
min read
In honor of Veterans Day, browse a selection of photographs from our collection that depict US service members.
Lewis Hine, Soldier Thrown in Air, 1917, gelatin silver print, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1995.36.90
After the United States entered World War I, photographer
Wayne Miller, Naval Air Technical Training Center, Norman, Oklahoma, February 1943, printed later, gelatin silver print, Gift of Wayne F. Miller Family, 2021.89.26
During World War II, the Navy established a program called Women
Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service, or WAVES. It enabled around
100,000 women to play a critical role in the war effort. Here Navy
photographer
Gordon Parks, Lt. George Knox. 332nd Fighter Group training at Selfridge Field, Michigan ("Fighters up! And good luck."), October 1943, gelatin silver print, Avalon Fund, 2019.17.2
Robert F. Sargent, U.S. Coast Guard, Title from caption on object: “Army Troops Land on ‘Omaha’ Beach during the Initial Landings...”, June 6, 1944, gelatin silver print, Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon, 2018.177.335
This well-known D-Day photograph is by US Coast Guard Chief Photographer’s Mate
American 20th Century, "Doris", c. 1944, gelatin silver print, Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon, 2019.170.36
This closely cropped, soft-focus studio portrait by an unknown photographer depicts a member of the Women’s Army Corps posing in her uniform. The picture is signed “Doris” in green ink on the top left, and the back of the photograph also reads, in part, “your friend, Doris.” Doris may have passed out copies of this elegant photograph to friends as keepsakes.
Kyoichi Sawada, United Press International, Title from caption on object: “Twisted Faces”, November 22, 1967, gelatin silver print, Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon, 2018.177.572
Japanese photojournalist
Louie Palu, U.S. Marine Gysgt. Carlos "OJ" Orjuela, age 31, Garmsir District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2008, printed 2013, inkjet print, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the artist in memory of Giuseppe Palu), 2015.19.5258
This is one of a series of haunting portraits that Canadian photographer
Elisheva Biernoff, Exposure, 2017, acrylic on plywood, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund, 2018.49.1
This work, amazingly, is a tiny painting.
The back of Elisheva Biernoff's Exposure (left) with a detail of the handwritten caption (right).