Through a compassionate yet distanced lens, Vietnamese American photographer An-My Lê examines the physical and psychological impacts of war on everyday life, environments, and memory. Captured with a large-format camera, her images oscillate between reality and fiction, often depicting military training grounds and reenacted scenes of historical conflicts—
as seen in her acclaimed photographic series, Small Wars (1999–2002) and 29 Palms (2003–04). Lê, who was born in 1960 in Ho Chi Minh City, fled to the US as a teenager after the American war in Vietnam. Her quietly introspective practice interweaves personal history with collective consciousness to unsettle mediatized narratives, probing the lingering aftermath of geopolitical strife. Through this subtly subversive approach, Lê challenges the conventions of documentary photography, creating a unique visual language that demystifies the spectacle of combat and violence. Read about her practice in our upcoming Sep/Oct issue.