In Country: Soldiers' Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan

Over the last four years Jennifer Karady has turned the focus of her art practice toward staging photographs of a significant memory from individual veterans' experience in relation to how that memory manifests itself in their civilian life. In creating these photographs, Karady actively engages with these veterans, both as collaborators and subjects. After extensive interviews and a lengthy planning process, each veteran reenacts the chosen memory, in uniform, often surrounded by family and friends and within her or his everyday environment. Karady's pragmatic approach to difficult subject matter shines through in her project's rigorous conceptualization and egalitarian execution. As staged, completely analog photographs rich with allegory and symbolism, these veterans shared memories, recalled and revealed in collaboration with Karady carry with them the stories of their subjects. The veterans' recollections, derived from interviews conducted by the artist, are included alongside the photographs. Currently a work-in-progress, Karady hopes to eventually complete this project with 25 photographs of veterans from around the country. This 12 x 12-inch monograph is published by San Francisco Camerawork Publications in a limited edition of 1,000. In addition to a full-color 24-page portfolio that includes soldiers' stories of war recounted in their own voices, this book also includes an introduction by curator Chuck Mobley, an interview with Jennifer Karady, and an essay by art historian Carol McCusker.