Former SEAL's Photos Come to International Photography Hall of Fame
St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Nov 07, 2014 | by Sarah Bryan Miller
Eric Greitens could be mistaken for a character in a Tom Clancy thriller, but he's for real.
The Parkway North High and Duke University graduate is a Rhodes Scholar with two graduate degrees from Oxford University (while there, he won two Oxford Boxing Blues), a former Navy SEAL who served four tours in the Middle East (while there, he won the Shamrock Marathon at Camp Fallujah) and is now a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve.
He began his humanitarian work as an undergraduate in Croatia and Rwanda; his Oxford thesis was on how best to serve children affected by war, and he's also volunteered in Albania, Bolivia, Cambodia, the Gaza Strip, India, Mexico andZaire. He's been honored by everyone from President George W. Bush to Major League Baseball for his humanitarian work.
Greitens, 40, founded and is now chairman of the board of a St. Louis-based national nonprofit called the Mission Continues, an organization whose purpose is to "challenge veterans to serve and lead in communities across America." He's written best-selling books. He's a photographer of distinction.
Some of those photos, from Greitens' book "Strength and Compassion," are the focus of an exhibition opening Friday at the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. They were taken in Rwanda, Cambodia, Gaza and other places where he's done humanitarian work, and they offer insightful views into those cultures. Although a set of 10 of them was exhibited four years ago at the Holocaust Museum, this is the first time that all 28 will be on view together in St. Louis.
Robert Bullivant, owner of Bullivant Gallery and Consulting in Grand Center, worked with Greitens to develop the traveling exhibition, based on Greitens' book "Strength and Compassion." Bullivant, a photographer himself, makes high-resolution, high-quality prints of photos.
Bullivant is also a vice president on the board of the Hall of Fame and worked to get a slot to show "Strength and Compassion."
"The thing about this project that got me excited about it early on is that they're not just pretty images," he says. "They have a strong message behind them. It's what makes the book work."
The advantage of an exhibition is that it does something "that the book can't. Because of (the photographs') size, the viewer is drawn in. It makes you feel like you're a part of it."
The exhibition, says Bullivant, "is timely and culturally relevant to the moment."
Greitens has a new book coming out in March, titled "Resilience." "It's about how people deal with pain and create wisdom, how people deal with suffering and create strength, how people confront fear and create courage," Greitens says.
He gives Bullivant the credit for making the exhibit happen.
"I'm excited to see the whole exhibit up in my hometown. Whenever people see it, it offers an opportunity for them to reflect on their own lives, about their own service, their own resilience. It's always fun for me to share the exhibit with people, and it's an honor to have it at the museum."
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/11/07/former-seals-photos-come-to-international-photography-hall-of-f.html?comp=7000023468025&rank=4
