Interview With Iraq War Photographer

Photographer Stephanie Kuykendal spent time in the Iraq battle zone, then came home to bond with war vets.

By Carl Cannon

From readersdigest.com

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On the first weekend in May at Rose River Farm in south central Virginia, photographer Stephanie Kuykendal, took pictures for our article, "A Place in the Sun." The farm is owned by Douglas Dear, chairman of the board of Project Healing Waters. Reader’s Digest thanks Douglas—and the wounded veterans and their fishing guides—for their help and hospitality. If it seems from the pictures in our August issue, and in the slide show, that our photographer bonded with the wounded vets and the guides, well ... that’s because she did, both because of her sensitivity, and her own stint in the battle zone in Iraq. Here is her story:

RD: How did you become a photographer?
SK: I went to University of Missouri because it was the state school—I grew up in St. Louis—and had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew I loved to travel and learn about other cultures, but it wasn’t until I got to University of Missouri that I realized that photojournalism was the perfect way to spend a career learning about other cultures.

RD: Where has your career taken you?
SK: I started working in Washington, D.C where I interned at The Washington Post. After that, I freelanced. In 2004, I went to Baghdad where I was based for about four months. When it became too dangerous to do stories and work the way I wanted to, which is telling stories about individuals, I moved to Dubai. My husband in a staff photographer who worked in Baghdad also and his company moved him to Dubai so I went with him.

RD: What do you love about your work?
SK: I love connecting with people. The healing waters project was an amazing experience for me because I was injured with U.S. troops when I was imbedded with them in November 2004 during the invasion of Falujah. The light armored vehicle (LAV) I was in hit an antitank mine. I was thrown and banged up really badly. My face was banged up and teeth were broken. The medics there took great care of me and I healed completely.

RD: How did that help with this assignment?
SK: When I met the vets involved in healing waters, there was an instant connection. I felt really welcomed. When they learned I’d been to Iraq and had been injured, they opened right up to me. We were sharing and exchanging stories. The thing I love about photography is that it allows me to connect with people and share their story. The veterans loved the fact that I went to Iraq as a journalist and that I wanted to experience what they did. They also gave me a nickname: Hardcore.

RD: Why “Hardcore”?
SK: Because I got blown up, too.

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