Veterans’ Portrait Project

For years, I have had a notion to go out and make portraits of our World War II and Korean War Veterans in my community. I have been sitting on this project for too long, and I feel compelled to start now because we are running out of time, as these members of our Veteran population are quickly, and quietly disappearing. I intend to use my gifts and talents as a portrait photographer to honor these warriors that came before us.

Our military, and our historians have done a good job of giving us the broad strokes of events, and the big names related to WWII and the Korean War, but there are so many incredible people, and individual stories that have gone unheard, and I feel a responsibility to reach out to these men and women, to connect with them, and to write down their stories before they leave us, and take those stories with them. Being a photographer, it is important that I make a proper portrait of each person I connect with, so we can put a story with a face.

There may be a living Veteran who experienced the bombing of Pearl Harbor, whose family don’t know that story. There may be a living Veteran who was a part of the Island Hopping Campaign that no one knows about. There are Veterans out there that have stories from the battles of Inchon and Chosin in Korea. We need to hear those stories. We need to see the faces of the people who have been there.

I initially started this project focusing on my home state of Arizona, but quickly realized that I could be missing out on some very important stories if I didn’t think big enough. Since then I have broaden my scope to cover finding and photographing WWII and Korean War Veterans across the United States, because every single story and experience is important.

This is where I need some help. I can cover the state of Arizona with my own funds, but in order to research, connect with, make portraits, and collect our Veteran’s stories across our nation, I will need some assistance with travel, accommodations, renting and moving photography gear, and printing these portraits for the Veterans and their families. Additionally, I intend to create a physical collection of portraits and stories that can be displayed on particular commemorative dates (June 6th, December 7th, Veteran’s Day, etc.) at various venues.

I believe that it is inevitable that in my lifetime, we will hear the unfortunate utterance of the phrase, “Our last WWII or Korean War Veteran has left us.” Will you help me capture as many of their stories as possible before that happens?

I’m committed to this project to honor our Veterans because they deserve it, their families deserve it, their communities deserve it. I will be accountable for every single dollar spent in completing this long term project, and I hope you will consider honoring them with me.

Thank you and have an amazing day.

Kavan Lake, Major , USMC (Ret)