To Be At War
KANSAS • ARIN YOON
From the 2021-2022 We, Women nationwide exhibit.
About the project
Until I married a service member, I was largely unaware of U.S. military operations. I moved onto a military installation where troops train in simulated war conditions right before deployment during the height of the war in Afghanistan. Suddenly, war surrounded me. Today, a smaller percentage of the U.S. population than ever before serves in the military and a higher percentage of soldiers now have their own families. Thus, the burden of war falls on these families, a community increasingly isolated from the civilian population. To further explore the experiences of military families, last year I led photography workshops for military spouses and children in Fort Leavenworth. I hope sharing their stories will help bridge the growing divide between military and civilian populations.
Photos and audio by artist and project participants Adrienne Beall, Matt Beall, Kaitlin Brinker, Denise Buissereth, Adela Courtright, Liz Kinney, Chad Buckel, Chantal Labrie, Elise Lyles, Matt Lyles, John Principe, Brandi Smith, Olivia Takash, and Jenny Walker.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Access the We, Women Education Resource Guide here, where you can dive more deeply into the 19 We, Women projects and think more deeply about collaboration and community!
About the Artist
Arin Yoon is a documentary photographer, visual artist, and arts educator based in Kansas. Her work focuses on the military, families, and women and issues of representation and identity. She was recently named a National Geographic Explorer. Her work has been shown at venues such as the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Seoul, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and A.I.R. Gallery in New York. For the past decade, Arin has worked as a teaching artist at nonprofit organizations focused on youth empowerment through media literacy.