Senior Airman Lauren Everett, a medic attached to Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), talks to an Afghan child during a patrol in Mehtar Lam district, Laghman province, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 // Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane
If you’ve served abroad, Uncle Sam wants your photographs.
The Defense Department wants donated photos from current and former service members who have served overseas for use in a recognition exhibition planned in conjunction with the State Department, according to a DoD press release. The department is looking for photos that depict life as a military member overseas in six specific categories: daily life, friendship, places, faces, loss or triumph.
If your picture is chosen, it will be used for display in a special photography exhibition planned for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Pentagon and other prominent venues, stateside and overseas. Project “Serving Abroad…Through Their Eyes” is accepting photo submissions through Presidents Day, which is Feb. 20, 2012.
“It is simply phenomenal, and absolutely fitting that photos by America’s bravest during tough duty abroad get this sort of national recognition,” said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in the press release. “I can’t wait to see them and take part in the new conversations and relationships this is sure to inspire.”
Rules, entry form and submission guidelines can be found at http://www.ourmilitary.mil/their-eyes/serving-abroad-through-their-eyes. The Defense Media Activity will provide technical services to receive submissions and assist in screening for any operational security or privacy concerns. To help ensure suitability, entrants should consult with their public affairs officer before photographic submission is made.
The defense and state department are working together with the office of ART in Embassies on this project in celebration of 50 years of international cultural exchange, according to the press release. The ART in Embassies program was originally established by the Museum of Modern Art in 1953 – and formalized by the Kennedy administration in 1962. It is one of the premier public-private partnership arts organizations in continuous operation, with a presence in some 200 venues within 180 countries worldwide, according to the press release.
