When We Were Soldiers… once and young, a photographic installation by Bettina WitteVeen at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital Building, September 19 – October 24

“We are not hard-wired for war. Warfare is a tragic aberration of the neurotic aspects of a society. Let me explain that I am an abolitionist of warfare. Like the abolitionists of slavery who published painful images to show the inhumanity of slavery and to rally support, I show the reality and ravages of war.” — Bettina WitteVeen 

Main Floor

“In Memoriam”. Main Floor

Triptych Battle of the Alma, Crimea, Ukraine

Triptych “Body”. Alma Battleeld, Crimea, Ukraine

Patient Treatment Room, Main Floor Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital Building, New York, USA

“Cross of Suffering”. Patient Treatment Room, Main Floor

Main Floor Hallway Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital Building, New York, USA

“The Battle”. Main Floor Hallway

- Former DMZ, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam- Battlefield, Operation Overlord, St.Mere Eglise, France- UH-1 Iriquois helicopter, Mekong Delta, Vietnam- US special forces, 1964, Vietnam

“The Battle”. (Left to Right): Former DMZ, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. Battleeld, Operation Overlord, St.Mere Eglise, France.  UH-1 Iriquois helicopter, Mekong Delta, Vietnam. US special forces, 1964, Vietnam

- Schoolgirls at Hue, Vietnam- Site of Japanese Garrison, WWII, Yap Island, Micronesia

“The Battle”. (Left to Right): Schoolgirls at Hue, Vietnam. Site of Japanese Garrison, WWII, Yap Island, Micronesia

Main Floor Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital Building, New York, USA

“War Invisible”. Main Floor

- Big Dog Robot (Boston Dynamics)- Robotic Hand

“War Invisible”. (Left to Right): Big Dog Robot (Boston Dynamics). Robotic Hand

Basement Exit Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital Building, New York, USA

“Calvary”. Basement Exit

- Landscape: Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine- British soldier in barbed wire, WWI, France

“The Memories of the Heart”. (Left to Right): Landscape: Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine. British soldier in barbed wire, WWI, France

- Blind veteran, WWII, Germany- Battlefield, Ardennes Offensive,Mezieres, Belgium

“Cross of Suffering”. (Left to Right): Blind veteran, WWII, Germany. Battleeld, Ardennes Offensive, Mezieres, Belgium

- Battlefield Chemin des Dames, Aisne, France- Rape victim, Sudan

“Anonymous”. (Left to Right): Battleeld Chemin des Dames, Aisne, France. Rape victim, Sudan

- Windows GedŠchtniskirche, Berlin, Germany- Face Injury, X-Ray, WWI, Germany

“Altar of Redemption and Resurrection”. (Left & Right) Windows Gedächtniskirche, Berlin, Germany. (Center) Face Injury, X-Ray, WWI, Germany

Images courtesy of Bettina WitteVeen