Everyone knows NATO forces are fighting the Taliban but it was rare to see it in such a straightforward way as in Helmand Province.
via The 6th Floor Blog: http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/q-a-with-joel-van-houdt-afghanistan-based-photographer/?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
The portraits were part of the assignment that photo editor Joanna Milter sent me on the road with. I liked the idea: these Marines had been living and fighting on the often forgotten front line of this war, and I thought that photographing their faces, as opposed to their bodies in action, would remind us that actual people, in this case young Americans, are putting their lives at risk.