A behind the scenes look at Stacy Pearsall’s Veterans Portrait Project as she travels across the United States taking portraits of American military veterans.

Once set up, which took anywhere from 20-45 minutes, I’d start checking in the veterans. As my project evolved, I developed a model release form tailored for the veterans. It not only had the standard name, address, email and phone number, it also had areas for their branch of service, military occupation, dates of service and so on. This gave me a glimpse of whom they were, where they’d served and where to start in the interview.

Every portrait started with an interview, as is my usual practice. In order to do my subject’s any justice, I must first know them. This exchange is even more important with my fellow veterans I’ve found. Given my own military history, I can connect with them in such a way that puts them at relative ease. Despite there often being a generational gap, our experiences aren’t entirely different

When our conversation has hit a good stride, I take a few steps back and start the portrait taking process. All the while, we’re still talking and engaging each other. I find that some of the best facial expressions are evoked when a veteran’s memory is stirred. I ask questions about their military service, regalia, duty stations and so on.

I shoot with two cameras at a time – one with a long lens and the other with a shorter lens. This allows me to switch back and forth without disrupting the flow of conversation, or the shoot session.
I prefer to place myself in a submissive posture to my subject, as I find it empowers and reassures them that I’m not out to dominate the situation in away way. This may sound strange, but when we’re discussing delicate subject matter as we are, this seems to work best. Therefore I typically kneel or sit on the floor.
Not only does my shooting position empower the subject during our session, it also allows me a strong shooting angle. By having my lens at the subject’s eye level, or below, the subject’s position in the final portrait is that of strength and dominance – attributes often exuded by military folks.

With four lights at my disposal, the lighting combinations are infinite. During the interview process, I develop a vision in my mind’s eye of what their story conveys to me. I mentally scroll through my Rolodex of lighting combinations that would best translate what I “hear” from the veterans to what others will ultimately “see”. Ideally, the subjects’ emotions translate to the viewer not only by the gesture of the subject’s expression, but in the mood of light that’s used as well.

Some subjects lend themselves to more formal style portraits with crisp clean lighting and stoic expression, while others are more daring and game to try something new. I’ve made portraits showcasing memorial tattoos, bullet holes, blast burns, prosthetic limbs, false teeth and a host of other military-related physical attributes.

The VPP has been my baby from the first, and I funded it all on my own for a long time. But I’d be lying if I said I managed everything else on my own as the project progressed. Contrarily, I’ve had a great deal of help. And that’s what it takes to make any project of this magnitude a success – a solid team.

From the first, the VA opened their doors to my camera and me. A countless number of veterans helped arrange follow-on shoots, and some even made small financial contributions to see me grow the project outside my hometown. USAA and the VFW vowed to help me photograph veterans from coast to coast and have been incredibly supportive in spreading the word about the VPP.

What’s more are my crack assistants, Des’ola Mecozzi, Andy Dunaway, Cali Barini and a number of other location-based volunteers, who help pack, haul, set-up and break-down gear sometimes three of four times a week.
Because of the brain trauma I sustained in combat, they keep me on track with schedules, flights, show times and so on.
They also keep potentially stressful situations to a minimum, and are game for a good laugh. What all of my assistants have in common is a military association too – they’ve either served in the military, or are married/directly-related to someone who’s served.
Like me, their knowledge of the military veterans helps get them through the grueling twelve-hour days and to understand the importance of the Veterans Portrait Project.

Here is part one, just in case you missed it.

Veterans portraits and story by Stacy L. Pearsall, Behind the Scenes images by Des’ola Mecozzi