Look at the U.S.A.: A Diary of War and Home

World Press Photo award winner van Agtmael (Sorry for the War) gathers searing images taken from roughly 2006 to 2023 of “the post-9/11 era, at war and at home.” Raised on “war stories with happy endings” told by his WWII vet grandfather, van Agtmael became a combat photographer after 9/11 and quickly soured on the “self-satisfaction” and hunger for power fueling America’s conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and on the home front (the January 6 attack on the Capitol and police violence against Black Americans are depicted, with the author making the case that long-running currents of racism and nationalism precipitated both). Featured are stark, arresting shots of soldiers crouched in alleyways; raucous, flag-waving rallies; and veterans’ wounds oozing blood. Yet the most stirring photos are subtler—a hand clutching the top of a wall near the Capitol; a uniformed officer picking up fruit dropped by a boy collapsed outside a Taliban ministry office. Despite a few distracting intrusions—including quoted conversations with the author’s parents about the danger of his work—the collection succeeds in viscerally exposing the often “ridiculous and obscene” narratives of American “triumphs” and their costs. This is hard to look away from. (May)