Portfolio > Archival Digital Prints - Giclée

Inspired by an antique photograph of five young boys in World War I era uniforms posing as soldiers, some holding toy rifles, one or two others bearing the weight of the real thing, this painting was begun after Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003. This photo was a springboard used to contextual my thoughts about the 2003 Iraq war and the one these boys were posing for. The messaging used to encourage young men to sign up for WWI and the Iraq war was all too similar. Contemporary fear mongering, coupled with the assurance of an easy invasion and high moral purpose, seduced the conflicted American people of the twenty-first century as effectively as the romantic propaganda from the WWI era convinced young men to go “Over There” into France’s trenches.