Aftermath: Portraits and Reflections of Veterans in Recovery: A Collaboration Between the Home Base Veterans' Program and Harvard University Polo

With the blessing of the Home Base Veterans Program in Charlestown MA, since August 2020, I’ve been privileged to work as a volunteer photographer with almost 200 current and former military veterans recovering from PTSD as they participate in Respite Weekend activities around Harvard University’s Polo Farm in Hamilton MA. The farm visits represent a unique collaboration among three world-class institutions: Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Red Sox Foundation, both of which support the Home Base Program. More than 50 of the vets have allowed me to take their portraits. Using the backdrop of the stables and the farm, and often providing insights into their lives (the text which I use along with the images), the vets and I are able to create intimate portraits which reflect the person they are, who they want to be, their hopes for the future and what they've gone through. These collaborations have become a marriage of mutual intent and agreement - and even more importantly – a deeply personal record of both pain and ultimately resilience. Many thanks to the vets for allowing me these brief but intimate glimpses into their world.