Sandbox Silence: Memories of Sand in Platinum

The purpose of Sandbox Silence Memories of Sand in Platinum is to fulfill a promise I made to Andy as those of us who knew him (HM3 FMF Christopher Anderson -KIA 04Dec2006 Ar Ramadi, Al Anbar Province, Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom) in 2006  regardless of the cost or where it would lead out of loyalty, irrespective of how long it would take to fulfill the promise made.  It has been a long road full of twists and turns along the way, however the honor of the promise has been kept. That is what this project is about. 

Juxtaposed over the promise is the underlying story within each platinum and palladium print in which the reflection of countless Marine Corps Infantry and United States Fleet Marine Force Navy Corpsmen who are linked to  Andy as a brother in arms.  He was truly the best, the brightest, and most fearless of us; and this collection of 45 Platinum and palladium prints honoring Andy's Memory  is the fruit of many a long years of labor.  This body of work has been designated as a Public Works Project.

As many young Marines and Corpsman do we exchanged a promise bound in blood, brotherhood, friendship, and the pledge that we both took the day that we first donned the Caduceus of the United States Naval Hospital Corps. That promise was not taken lightly. - If either one of us was to not make it back from Ramadi the other would ensure that the survivor would not be forgotten no matter the cost.  A promise made to a fellow Navy Corpsman, Marine, or fellow service member and their family is a promise that is born of honor, blood, and eternal loyalty regardless of time or circumstances. When a Navy Corpsman gives his word to a fellow Corpsman, Marine, or family member that promise is kept. 

Below you will find a Vimeo video representation of the body of work of 45 prints. Within the video you will hear the call to prayer as recorded on the banks of the Euphrates River in Ar Ramadi, Al Anbar Province Iraq in September of 2006.

From September 2006 to mid May of 2007 Marines and their Corpsmen from 1stBattalion 6th Marines would deploy to the Al Anbar Province, Ar Ramadi, Iraq. It was in the middle of this war, during stilled moments that two Green side FMF Navy Corpsmen (one of which would fall in battle on December 4th 2006- HM3 FMF Christopher Anderson –known as Andy to his friends) made photographs of the sheer chaos surrounding them; hoping to make sense out of the silence found within the fog of war at some point down the road. History and those who survived would later come know this period of time as the end of the Second Battle of Ramadi- one of the defining battles which changed the course of the War in Iraq.

Twelve years later 45 of these photographs were made into 11x14” platinum and palladium prints in order to fulfill a promise. The promise to remember fallen brothers in arms. Unlike Matthew Brady’s often-staged portrayal of war and the battlefield in his work “The Dead of Antietam”; this contemporary exhibition of Platinum and Palladium photographic prints provides the viewer with an alternative yet candid perspective. The viewer is drawn into an almost pictorial yet austere perspective of the war through the lens and the eyes of two Navy Corpsmen during the unseen moments between the firefights.

The intent of this work is to form an introspective educational bridge of dialogue between veterans and the community about the remnants and memory of the silence of War through an alternative viewpoint as seen through the eyes of two Fleet Marine Force Navy Corpsmen. This exhibition provides the public with an important permanent historical record in the form of platinum and palladium photographic prints for generations to come. 

It is the hope of the printmaker that this Public Works Project will continue to preserve the memory of HM3 FMF Christopher Anderson in the many years and decades to come for the generations that follow. 

 All prints are made by hand in the studio using the  traditional Platinum and Palladium photographic  printing process which has remained unchanged since the Mid-1870's.