Joseph Duo, a Liberian militia commander loyal to the government, exults after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces at a key strategic bridge on July 20, 2003, in Monrovia, Liberia. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Testament is a collection of photographs and writing by late photojournalist Chris Hondros spanning over a decade of coverage from most of the world’s conflicts since the late 1990s, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Liberia, Kosovo, and Libya. Through Hondros’ images, we witness a jubilant Liberian rebel fighter exalt during a firefight, a U.S. Marine remove Saddam Hussein’s portrait from an Iraqi classroom, American troops ride confidently in a thin-skinned unarmored Humvee during the first months of the Iraq war, “the probing eyes of an Afghan village boy,” and “rambunctious Iraqi schoolgirls enjoying their precious few years of relative freedom before aging into more restricted adulthoods.”
A Shiite boy pastes up campaign posters for the United Iraqi Alliance in the ethnically mixed Baladiyat neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 7, 2005. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
A U.S. Marine pulls down a picture of Saddam Hussein at a school on April 16, 2003, in Kut, Iraq. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Hondros was not just a front-line war photographer, but also a committed observer and witness, and his work humanizes complex world events and brings to light shared human experiences. Evident in his writings, interspersed throughout, Hondros was determined to broaden our understanding of war and its consequences.
A woman boarding a mini-cab is seen through the window of a U.S. Army Humvee on Oct. 24, 2010, in central Herat, Afghanistan. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
The shadow of a U.S. Army Humvee is seen through its window on Feb. 8, 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Men picnicking on a traffic median are seen through the window of a U.S. Army Humvee on Oct. 24, 2010, in central Herat, Afghanistan. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Goats and sheep graze in a field as seen through a window of a U.S. Army Humvee on June 26, 2010, in the village of Deh Moghol, Afghanistan. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Afghan schoolgirls seen through the window of a Humvee wave to a passing American convoy on June 26, 2010, in downtown Herat, Afghanistan. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Men and boys ride on a vehicle as seen through a window of a U.S. Army Humvee on Oct. 24, 2010, on the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
This unyielding determination led Hondros to take dozens of trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, even as the news turned elsewhere. During these “routine” trips, Hondros examined and observed daily life in these war-torn societies. His inventive Humvee picture series frames the ever-changing landscapes of these countries, offering a glimpse into the daily lives of those most affected by conflict.
Afghan men in Zhari district, west of Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Oct. 11, 2010, discuss how best to spread dirt atop earthen barriers for a new Afghan police checkpoint as part of a labor program sponsored and paid for by the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Ali Salem el-Faizani, 10, stands at a street corner while working as a traffic cop on April 15, 2011, in Benghazi, Libya. Schools had been closed throughout eastern Libya for nearly two months due to the ongoing civil conflict; some children like Ali were working to pass the time, in his case finding a job via a Boy Scout-like youth troop that’s affiliated with the Benghazi traffic police. “I like directing the cars around,” Ali said. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Testament documents Hondros’ quest to provoke thought and discover “a sense of human nature, a sense of shared humanity above the cultural layers we place on ourselves.”