Bryan Adams' heartstopping images of wounded British soldiers to go on show at Somerset House
Taken over the course of four years, Adams' portraits are an astonishing document of the aftermath of war
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.'Silence, a sense of reflection," is the response that Bryan Adams hopes his portraits of wounded British Armed Forces personnel will inspire in those visiting his exhibition at Somerset House over the coming months. But, as tends to be the case with simple ideas expertly executed, one is equally left thinking 'Why has this not been done before?'.
In Wounded: The Legacy of War, he presents servicemen and women from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the injuries they have sustained, matter-of-factly. Their missing limbs, prosthetics and scar tissue are seen by the viewer as part of the subjects as they are now.
"When I'm out, I feel vulnerable," says Private Ken Facal, who was injured in Afghanistan at the age of 24 while clearing an IED. "I'm always anxious about other people. I don't know if they're looking at me, or if I can protect myself if something comes up."
"I've had people cry on me because they're upset with what's happened to me," says Corporal Ricky Furgusson MC, who stepped on an IED while also aged 24 in Afghanistan. "I'm not into all that crying business, so I just say, 'Listen it's fine, it happened to me, not you, leave it'."
As a whole, the project tells a story of human sacrifice that, due to the extensive use of IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan, is unprecedented in this country in the second half of the 20th century. "I don't think anyone expected to see so many wounded people coming back," Adams says.
Asked if he felt a weight of responsibility in capturing such heroic personal narratives, Adams says, "No. I just thought I should try and be as honest with them as possible, because they were being honest with me"
'Wounded: The Legacy of War, Photographs by Bryan Adams'. The book is published by Steidl, and the exhibtion is at Somerset House, London WC2, 12 November to 25 January 2015; somersethouse.org.uk, admission free
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments