When Janey Comes Marching Home – Photo exhibit now in Arlington, Va.

When Janey Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans is more than a book we’ve just published — it’s a multimedia project based on interviews with dozens of female military veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The book juxtaposes 48 photographs by Sascha Pflaeging with oral histories collected by Laura Browder to provide a dramatic portrait of women at war. Women from all five branches of the military share their stories here — stories that are by turns moving, comic, thought-provoking, and profound. Seeing their faces in stunning color photographic portraits and reading what they have to say about loss, comradeship, conflict, and hard choices will change the ways we think about women and war.

In addition to the book, a documentary film is in the works, and there is a traveling photo exhibition that has recently arrived at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The exhibition will be in Arlington through September 5, 2010. If you’re a DC local or you have plans to travel to the area over the summer, don’t miss the opportunity to learn about these women and their stories. For a taste of the portraits, check out this slideshow.

You can learn more about the project at janeycomeshome.com. An interview with Laura Browder is accessible at the book page on the UNC Press website (clicking on the cover image above will take you to the book page). You can also take a look inside the book there.

–ellen