Afghanistan: On the Bounce - review
I love photography and consider it as the second most powerful medium right after the written word. There is something almost spiritual about photos and you can express many emotions with photography. Actually, it is more variable and interesting then just video, but still perfectly able to capture unique moments in our lifetimes. Because of that, I totally love war photos and honestly really look up to that guys with cameras, who are willing to became war reporters from the first lines of the wars. One of them is Robert Cunningham, who is now presenting us gorgeous journey through the all aspects of the soldier’s life in the Afghanistan.
Almost every superlative can be used for describing Afghanistan: On the Bounce. Gorgeous, amazing, astonishing? Yeah, definitely! On the more than 180 pages, there is not even one bad photography and everything is picked with meticulous care. Even night photos are without any mistake and it is pure happiness to observe them. Cunningham’s photos even manage to awake emotions in you and I consider this fact as the actuall prove of quality! I have really no problem with the nice graphical layout or with the quality of print, not speaking about weave a beautiful matte cover too.
But the real unique lies more in the amazing amount of places and moment, which were captured by Cunningham across the whole Afghanistan. Because the fact, he traveled around the whole country and spent some time with more than 100 units, he can present you really unique and integrated insight to the life of ordinary soldier. Whole book is divided into sections, which covers everything, from the journey to the Afghanistan to the way back, live or dead. You can find photos of ordinary life, of sleeping, of soldier’s free time and even combat pictures. Moreover, everything is described in the context by the short notes, so you always know at what are you looking!
And the last think, which I love maybe the most on this book are inserted additional materials. You can remove them from the book and use them practically. There are some postcards with beautiful landscapes, some language cards with Pashto or great portraits of all soldiers, who were met by Cunningham during his journey. Shortly, Afghanistan: On the Bounce is must have piece, with great artistic value and useful information about ordinary life in Afghanistan as a soldier. If you want something about Afghan campaign, this book is unmatchable!