My Brother's War

First edition of My Brother's by Jessica Heins (2021)

First impression 

Large format hardback in new condition

Published by Dewi Lewis

About

My Brother’s War tells the story of a soldier, Gary Hines, and his younger sister’s search to understand the circumstances surrounding his life with Post Traumatic Stress – and his untimely death by his own hand ten years after returning home from war. 

Gary’s letters, photographs, and his personal effects found in a small box, served as guides to Hines who travelled twice to Viet Nam, attended a reunion of his comrades, called army buddies decades after the war, and visited the home where he died. Finding handwritten declarations of love written by Gary’s Vietnamese fiancé, Hines also uncovered a surprising and mysterious love story.

Using her brother’s photographs as starting points allowed Hines to see the landscapes that shaped his experiences of trauma and to create the illusion of memory. Using shadows, magnification, and reflections, Hines met the challenge of discovery and understanding by creating images, with limited means, of things that no longer exist.