Peter van Agtmael

American photographer

Peter van Agtmael (born 1981) is a documentary photographer based in New York. Since 2006 he has concentrated on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their consequences in the United States.[1][2][3][4][5] He is a member of Magnum Photos.[6]

Van Agtmael's photo essays have been published in The New York Times Magazine,[7][8] Time,[9][10] The New Yorker[11] and The Guardian.[12] He has published three books.[13][14][15] His first, 2nd Tour Hope I Don't Die, was published by Photolucida as a prize for winning their Critical Mass Book Award.[16][17] He received a W. Eugene Smith Grant from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund[18] to complete his second book, Disco Night Sept. 11. His third, Buzzing at the Sill, was published by Kehrer Verlag in 2016.[19] He has twice received awards from World Press Photo,[20][21] the Infinity Award for Young Photographer from the International Center of Photography[22] and a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting,[23]

## Life and work[edit]

Van Agtmael was born in Washington D.C.[24] and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland.[25] He studied history at Yale,[24] graduating in 2003. He became a nominee member of Magnum Photos in 2008, an associate member in 2011, and a full member in 2013.[6][26][27]

After graduation he received a fellowship to live in China for a year and document the consequences of the Three Gorges Dam.[28] He has covered HIV-positive refugees in South Africa;[3] the Asian tsunami in 2005;[3] humanitarian relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina's effects on New Orleans in 2005[28] and after the 2010 Haiti earthquake,[29] the filming of the first season of TV series Treme on location in New Orleans in 2010;[12] the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010,[9] Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and its aftermath,[11] Nabi Salih and Halamish in the West Bank in 2013[8] and the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict[7] and its aftermath.[10]

Since 2006 he has concentrated on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their consequences in the United States.[1] He first visited Iraq in 2006 at age 24 and has returned to Iraq and Afghanistan a number of times, embedded with US military troops.[1] Later he continued to investigate the effects of those wars within the US.[13] In 2007 his portfolio from Iraq and Afghanistan won the Monograph Award (softbound) in Photolucida's Critical Mass Book Award.[16][17] As part of the prize Photolucida published his first book, 2nd Tour, Hope I Don’t Die. With work made between January 2006 and December 2008,[30] this "is a young photojournalist’s firsthand experience: the wars’ effects on him, on the soldiers and on the countries involved."[1] The 2012 W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography provided $30,000 to work on his second book,[30] Disco Night Sept. 11, which "chronicles the lives of the soldiers he has met in the field and back home."[13]

## Publications[edit]

### Publications by van Agtmael[edit]

* 2nd Tour Hope I Don't Die. Portland, OR: Photolucida, 2009. ISBN 978-1934334072.
* Disco Night Sept. 11. Brooklyn: Red Hook, 2014. ISBN 978-0984195428.
* Buzzing at the Sill. Heidelberg, Germany: Kehrer Verlag, 2016. ISBN 978-3868287363.
* Sorry for the War. Mass, 2021.[31][32][33]

### Publications with contributions by van Agtmael[edit]

* 25 Under 25: Up-and-Coming American Photographers, Volume 2. New York: powerHouse, 2008. ISBN 978-1-57687-192-8. Edited by Iris Tillman Hill, preface by Lauren Greenfield, introduction by Tom Rankin.
* A Year in Photography: Magnum Archive. Munich: Prestel; New York, Paris, London, Tokyo: Magnum, 2010. ISBN 978-3-7913-4435-5.
* The Contact Sheet. Pasadena, CA: Ammo, 2012. ISBN 9781934429082. Edited by Steve Crist.
* Photographs Not Taken. New York: Daylight, 2012. ISBN 9780983231615. Edited by Will Steacy.
* Photojournalists on War: The Untold Stories from Iraq. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013. ISBN 9780292744080. Edited by Michael Kamber, foreword by Dexter Filkins.
* Photographers' Sketchbooks. London: Thames & Hudson, 2014. ISBN 9780500544341. Edited by Stephen McLaren and Bryan Formhals.

## Awards[edit]

* 2006: 25 Under 25: Up and Coming American Photographers, The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Duke University, Durham, NC.[citation needed]
* 2007: Second prize, General News stories category, World Press Photo Awards, World Press Photo, Amsterdam,[20] for a series depicting night raids in Iraq.
* 2007: Monograph Award (softbound), Critical Mass Book Award, Photolucida.[16][17]
* 2008: Grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Washington, D.C.[23]
* 2011: Infinity Award, Young Photographer category, International Center of Photography, New York.[22]
* 2012: W. Eugene Smith Grant from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.[18]
* 2014: Second prize, Observed Portraits category, World Press Photo Awards, World Press Photo, Amsterdam.[21]
* 2020: Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation[34]

## Exhibitions with others[edit]

* 2009: Battlespace, Prix Bayeux-Calvados, Bayeux, France, 5 October – 1 November 2009.[35] Named after the military term Battlespace.
* 2010: Bringing the War Home, Impressions Gallery, Bradford, England, 17 September – 14 November 2010. Curated by Pippa Oldfield. Also included photographs by Sama Alshaibi, Farhad Ahrarnia, Lisa Barnard, Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin, Edmund Clark, Kay May, Asef Ali Mohammad and Christopher Sims.[36]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Koppel, Niko (3 November 2009). "Showcase: '2nd Tour, Hope I Don't Die'". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
2. ^ Herbert, Bob (24 August 2009). "The Ultimate Burden". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
3. ^ a b c Bayley, Bruno (15 May 2013). "Peter van Agtmael Won't Deny the Strange Allure of War". Vice. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
4. ^ Glaviano, Alessia (30 May 2014). "Peter van Agtmael". Vogue Italia. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
5. ^ Jacobs, Harrison (4 August 2014). "These Photos show the Harsh Reality of War in Iraq and Afghanistan". Business Insider. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
6. ^ a b "Magnum Photos appoints new full members – British Journal of Photography". www.bjp-online.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
7. ^ a b Rudoren, Jodi (28 August 2014). "On the Ground in Israel and Gaza: Two photographers capture scenes from the most recent outbreak of war". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
8. ^ a b "The Resisters". The New York Times. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
9. ^ a b "Exclusive Photos: The Oil Spill Spreads". Time. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
10. ^ a b Vick, Karl (24 November 2014). "Inside Gaza with Photographer Peter van Agtmael". Time. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
11. ^ a b Curtis, Elissa (5 February 2013). "Staten Island in the Wake of Sandy". The New Yorker. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
12. ^ a b Simon, David (4 May 2010). "Behind-the-scenes photographs of David Simon's new drama, 'Treme'". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
13. ^ a b c Laurent, Olivier (13 May 2014). "Peter van Agtmael's Disco Night Sept 11". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
14. ^ "Peter van Agtmael's Journey Through War". Time. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
15. ^ Rosenberg, David (17 June 2014). "Life through the Eyes of a War Photographer". Slate. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
16. ^ a b c "Critical Mass Books: 2nd Tour Hope I Don't Die". Photolucida. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
17. ^ a b c "Critical Mass Winners: Findings, Cage Call & Perfectible Worlds". Photo-Eye. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
18. ^ a b "2012: Peter van Agtmael". W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
19. ^ "Peter van Agtmael - Fotografie - Bücher - Kehrer Verlag". Retrieved 13 February 2018.
20. ^ a b "2006, Peter van Agtmael, 2nd prize, General News stories". World Press Photo. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
21. ^ a b "2014, Observed Portraits, 2nd prize stories, Peter van Agtmael". World Press Photo. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
22. ^ a b "Peter van Agtmael". International Center of Photography. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
23. ^ a b "Peter van Agtmael". Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
24. ^ a b Hedges, Chris (4 January 2010). "The Pictures of War You Aren't Supposed to See". Truthdig. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
25. ^ "A Photographer's Unfiltered Account of the Iraq War". The New York Times. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
26. ^ Popham, Peter (9 December 2012). "Young Magnum: The hotshots ready to take their place in history". The Independent. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
27. ^ Murg, Stephanie (9 July 2013). "Magnum Photos Adds Olivia Arthur and Peter van Agtmael as Full Members". Adweek. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
28. ^ a b Lindley, Robin (17 March 2010). "Interview: The human face of war". Real Change. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
29. ^ Staff writer (28 January 2010). "The Convoy to Nowhere". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
30. ^ a b "2nd Tour, Hope I Don't Die". Mother Jones. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
31. ^ Mogelson, Luke. "Peter van Agtmael's Absurd, Grotesque Chronicle of the Fallout from the Iraq War". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
32. ^ Schaller, Allison. ""I Understood the World Had Irrevocably Changed": The Myth of America Post-9/11". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
33. ^ "A Photographer's Unflinching Gaze on The War on Terror's Consequences". Time. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
34. ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation". Retrieved 2021-04-01.
35. ^ "Battlespace - Unrealities of war: Photographs from Iraq and Afghanistan Archived 2015-01-19 at the Wayback Machine", Prix Bayeux-Calvados. Accessed 17 January 2015.
36. ^ "Bringing the War Home Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine", Impressions Gallery. Accessed 3 December 2014.

## External links[edit]

* Official website
* Van Agtmael's profile at Magnum Photos
* Battlespace exhibition

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States

Artists|

* Photographers' Identities