Ex Veteran

These pictures of Army Specialist James Webb and his son, Christian, were shot for a New York Times story about the trouble many veterans are having receiving benefits promised to them by the Department of Veterans Affairs due to processing backlogs. The Times found that injured vets are being discriminated against based on where they live and whether they were on active duty or in National Guard or the Reserve. The worst backlogs are in some states sending the most troops, according to the Times' findings.

Mr. Webb, who received a Bronze Star for his service in Iraq, ended up homeless in Decatur, Georgia, while waiting for his disability check to clear the backlog. Three weeks before these photos were taken he moved back into his parents' house in east Tennessee. He was sharing a room with his son, due to a lack of space in the house.

But instead of digressing into a rant about politics, which would only end up frustrating me and boring you, I'd like to talk a bit about how the top picture was made. The goal was to illustrate the two sharing a room. The photos needed to be turned around quickly, so the picture had to be a portrait. I was relieved to see Mr. Webb wearing an Army t-shirt when I got to his house. That made a not-so-subtle tie to the story, which I'm all for in pictures where nothing else links to the story's main theme. It wasn't until I had positioned the two on the bed and framed them with Sponge Bob that I noticed the son was wearing an Old Navy shirt. That, for me, makes the picture a little more special. Details like that add an extra layer of meaning to what could otherwise be a boring headshot picture. They say it's better to be lucky than good. Agreed.

I shot some other pictures, a tight shot of Mr. Webb (above) and some stuff outside, but the one of them on the bed was the best fit for the story. When I packed up my lights and gear, I drove around trying to find a wi-fi hotspot so I could ftp the photos to the paper. After what seemed like a lifetime of searching, I found a local hotel that let me use the wi-fi in their lobby. Finding a wireless hotspot in a small town is no joke. Again, it helps to be lucky.