Music

Bryan Adams' moving photos of wounded war veterans captures their sacrifices

by Mark Teo

While most know Bryan Adams as the singer behind “Summer of ’69” (or, for the deep cut-inclined, the crooner behind “This Ain’t a Love Song,” which most assuredly is a love song), the Canadian rock legend has also never been shy about his politics. Adams is an anti-war activist—and an outspoken one, who has used his celebrity to discuss the impact of war, and as such, his latest project isn’t musical. Instead, for the last four years, he’s been working on a photography project capturing the sacrifices that British veterans made after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The photos, some of which you can view above, aren’t for the faint of heart. But Adams says that’s the point: Many of the images depicted in the press depict veterans as decorated heroes, but often don’t stray into the brutality of war. So, his collection, called Wounded: The Legacy of War, sets out to portray the unportrayed—and his portraits display soldiers who lost their limbs, their eyesight, and who suffered devastating burns.

The collection will be on display at the Somerset House in London, England.

“When I started looking, I couldn’t find any photographs of wounded soldiers, other than perhaps them being decorated, there weren’t any portraits like this. I tried to make them look quite proud and heroic,” Adams told the Longridge News.

“There were times where you really had to take a big breath. In one particular case, this young chap was here and his father was in the corner, watching and he just couldn’t take it, he was crying. Whereas the son was like, ‘This is who I am now and I’ve just got to get on with it, I’m not going to let it get me down.'”

In all, Adams photographed 40 men and women. He says the project was derived for his great respect for veterans—he, after all, is the son of a UN Peacekeeper. And his perspective, growing up in a military family, continues to inform his anti-war stance. “There is too much suffering for families and children,” he told the Telegraph. “The repercussions of these wars are going to be felt for decades.” View more of his photography here.