Haunting Faces of War (8 photos)

Machine Gun Shell Casings

Zoriah is an award-winning photojournalist who focuses on the human and environmental toll of war. In this incredible series, he wanted to bring to light social and humanitarian issues by combining images of fashion with images of conflict, crisis and disaster. Why? He explains, “Several years ago I went from covering the conflict in Gaza straight to New York to shoot Fashion Week. My entire time in Gaza I did not see one other photographer, yet at fashion week I was packed in with 50 or more shooters during runway shows. I was distressed by this in the beginning, but soon I began to see possibilities. “What if you could use the glamor and sex appeal of fashion and celebrity photography along with the messages in photojournalism? What if you could create works of art that would not only stun people visually, but also educate people about a subject that they may otherwise ignore or find too depressing to pay attention to? “Years ago when I did my work using film and darkrooms I fell in love with a process called “Negative Sandwiching” or “Sandwich Printing” or “Multiple Printing.” This process involved actually placing two negatives on top of each other before exposing the image (alternately you could expose using one negative and then again with a second). The same process can be done digitally now with much more accuracy and detail.” (First photo: Model Betheny Merola fused with an image of hundreds of machine gun shell casings lining the floor of an abandoned tank in Taji, Iraq.)) Kenya Famine

Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straights and now commonly regarded as one of the greatest guitar players of all time) fused with an image of a dried and cracked mud hut in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Kenya has been suffering from a severe famine for a number of years due primarily to drought. Kenya is also home to refugees from unstable areas around the region, many of whom end up in camps and not only suffer from the drought but put strain on the already limited resources. Afghanistan War

Model Hannah Johnson fused with an image of rural Afghanistan shot from a US military helicopter during the conflict in 2007. Bombed Gaza Strip

Model Bo Don fused with an image of a boy climbing on a massive pile of rubble in bombed out neighborhood in Gaza City. Iraq, Baghdad Abandoned

Model Emilie Wake fused with an image of a corridor in an abandoned monument in Baghdad's infamous Green Zone. Iraq, Baghdad Abandoned

Model Lia Serge fused with an image of a painting on a wall of an abandoned police station in Baghdad, Iraq. Effects of Roadside Bombs

This is an x-ray from Iraq's bloodiest emergency room, the infamous Baghdad ER. The x-ray belongs to a U.S. soldier who was injured when a roadside bomb or possibly a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle, causing severe damage to his arm. Upon arrival at Baghdad ER, his arm was x-rayed to show doctors damage to his bones as well as any shrapnel that they would need to remove. The white flakes near D'Amato's right shoulder blade are pieces of shrapnel that appeared in the x-ray. Devastation in Lebanon

Model Laura Peterson's negative sandwiched with an image of devastation in Lebanon after the 34-Day Summer War. The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. The conflict started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8 September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon. Zoriah

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