Do you know the new face of Canada’s Veterans?

War Veteran, Keith Shannon of the Sea Forth Armoury

 

 

When you picture war veterans, what image pops up in your head?

I trust the majority of you imagine old, wrinkly men from WWII era wearing a pea colour uniform and red poppy on their lapel.

The truth is that many veterans are young and a number of them just returned from Afghanistan, a country we’re still at war with.

The Veterans Portrait Project was brought to my attention a week ago. My teacher is involved with the 100th anniversary of the Seaforth Highlanders regiment in Vancouver and asked if I could write a press release for an exhibition of black and white photographs some of their veterans were involved with.

I interviewed the man behind the project, Shaun O’Mara, and learned he came up with the idea as he was talking to friends about Canadians’ misconception of the current veteran. His idea became a mission to preserve the history of the regiment while capturing vivid images of veterans from multiple generations.

He’s found the portraits he’s snapped have also revealed a portion of each soldier’s story.

“Many people won’t get answers to how they (the veterans) feel because the experience is still new, it’s still raw. A way for us to learn what their story is though is captured in the photo.”

In one instance O’Mara said one of his subjects began to talk about his regiment’s tour while being photographed and opened up that his friend was killed in service.

“I asked him ‘What do you do with the rage when you have to stay professional?’ and he looked at me with such intensity while the shutter clicked that his photo captured all the emotion of his story,” said O’Mara.

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Remembrance Day and we will inevitably be thinking of those who fought for us years ago.

Please also reflect, however, the thousands of Canadians who have fought and died recently in Afghanistan as well.

Event Details:

The Veterans Portrait Project will be open to the public all day Remembrance Day (November 11) as well as Nov 12 – 14 at the Seaforth Armoury, 1650 Burrard St. Vancouver. The soldiers who posed for the photos will also be there to chat with.

The exhibition will then be relocated for the public to view at the Douglas Mitchell Centre, 2555 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, Saturday November 27, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Centenary celebrations.

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