They call this place Dashti Margo, or “Desert of Death.”
There’s nothing here but sand and rock and endless baking horizon. If the
homemade bombs don’t kill you, the heat will. This is Helmand province, the
Taliban’s heartland.
For this project, I want to gain an intimate window into
the lives of this one platoon. I’m hoping to capture something of these men’s
hopes and fears, their nationalism and pride, the thrill and the terror, the
impact of a never-ending war. I begin by asking each Marine to write down their
answers to a simple question: “Why are you a Marine?” I leave my small notebook
with them over many days so that each man will have time for reflection and to
write something personal. I shoot a series of candid Polaroid portraits of the
Marines around the base, and give each of them a positive copy as a gesture of
thanks.