Jenn Blatty, on a recent visit to West Point, where she was a tennis and boxing champion.
Jenn Blatty served six years as an officer in the Unite States Army. She was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. She had for many years been drawn to capturing life with disposable cameras, pen and notebook so she took up photography and writing as a career after completing her service to the military. In early 2018 she began a project that took her back to the front line, this time with a camera and recorder. She went to the Donbas region of Ukraine where she found members, past and present, of the volunteer army fighting the Russians.
"When we finished our tour of duty in another land we were sent home to address the physical and mental trauma of our experience. But Ukraine’s soldiers and veterans face an inescapable reality, fighting a war on their own land, making a transition to the “peace-life” nearly impossible with the uncertainty of another invasion and no end to the war in sight."
"What makes you continue going back to Ukraine," I asked.
"War-fighters around the world share a commonality that transcends the boundaries of nation and conflict, and I’m dedicated not only to archive the faces and stories of these fighters, but also to tell the story about the ongoing war in the Donbas, about those who continue to fight it, and about Ukraine's status as a country fighting for its independence, in the middle of Europe, in the 21st century."
And then she added: "Here is another reason for my returning at frequent intervals—the love of my life is one of the volunteer fighters. We speak neither of each other's language but rely on Google Translate to communicate."
An exhibition of Jenn's work will be displayed at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City in January 2020, in addition to other locations throughout the United States.
See Jenn's (J.T.) work on www.jtblatty.com
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