The Photography of Ben Brody

Afghan Lt. Nasrullah Sharif shows off his American-made bomb disposal equipment and some Taliban IED components he has found locally. Nasrullah is one of six US-trained bomb techs in the Afghan military. With the drawdown in full swing, US troops were not patrolling regularly from Combat Outpost Ahmadkhan — they relied heavily on surveillance blimps like the one in the background, and Afghan forces like Nasrullah to protect their base. Photo: Ben Brody

In 2017, in conjunction with the nationally touring Theater of War, the Gaudino Fund presented a two-week exhibit of larger-than-life images by soldier-turned-photographer Ben Brody in the ’62 Center for Theater and Dance. Working primarily for the nonprofit GroundTruth Project, Brody spent several years embedded in Afghanistan, producing what LensCulture Magazine called a “complex, haunting series, which lays bare the existential folly of America’s decade-long involvement.” The exhibit was explored in some detail in a Berkshire Eagle article.