Review of the Bryan Adams book: Wounded.

"The first casualty of war is the truth."

This book titled "Wounded" by Bryan Adams is nothing short of one of the most fascinating books I have ever read, it has given me massive insight to not just photographic techniques to imply, but also personal issues of a injured solders trying to fit back into normal life, facing the challenges of normal life but with scars and wounded bodies. 

The book follows the story of Bryan Adams as he recalls the events of war and the stories of young British soldiers who where wounded and had to retire from military service, he captured them in the exact same background and lighting, the pictures inside where of wounded soldiers after they returned home from battle. The injury's within are quite grim, ranging from scars, lost limbs, mechanical body parts and burnt skin, however what I found is that hardly any of the soldiers look in pain or sad, most of them are shown either smiling, looking like they are laughing or have a strong look on their face but what I noticed is that their eyes looked somewhat drawn out, as in they where more noticeable in some photos, I believe he was going for this to show to emotions at the sometime, both strength and sorrow. In my mind the whole book truly questions the humanity in people, pointless wars, pointless death and everything in the middle of it. The stories of the soldiers in this book really puts things into perspective.

 ‘When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains, An’ go to your Gawd like a soldier.’

This quote I find to be quite chilling, in a sense of how harsh war really can be.












I pulled this picture out from all the others because it is my personal favorite, it shows what I said before about showing humanity. The upper part of the male is muscular, strong looking giving the view a thought that he is a strong man, the lighting giving highlights of the muscle tone in his back and arm, even the tattoo adds to it over all, but the lower section of his body looks weak, with mechanical legs that are crosses in such a way that makes them look broken or damaged, like they have been thrown down. But I also note that the lighting is not focused to much on them but the white backdrop brings them out, almost like they are not hidden but not meant to be focused on either



 If you are into studio shots or working with human models in general, this book is fantastic for showing you how you can show strong figures of people, keeping both dignity and strength, while showing humanity. I took much inspiration in my recent fashion, taking similar shots and using the style he did, taking portrait, focus on lighting and the models composure. All in all, this book is fantastic, I take much from it, working with models, lighting and composition is critical.What I like most about this book is that it does not focus on the photographic work, but more on the personal story behind each solider. Each story tells about their injury's and how they happened, if you match what they say to the picture taken, it gives another level of depth.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bryan-Adams-Wounded-The-Legacy/dp/3869306777 - This is a link to where you can buy the book, I highly recommend it.