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May 8, 2016 1:22 PM   Subscribe

Galactic Warfighters

Marine Sgt. Matthew Callahan tells the story of war using Star Wars action figures. The results are impressive.

“Despite these epic, sprawling good and evil battles, there are still just real people fighting on either side that have their own personal stories to tell,” Callahan told Marine Corps Times.

Callahan was a Marine "assaultman" (specialist in attacking hardened positions) until snapping his leg on deployment. While recovering he picked up photography and is currently undergoing photojournalism training under a Defense Department program at Syracuse University. He has two Instagram feeds, one for Galactic Warfighters and another for his "normal" photography (which Business Insider called "one of the most fascinating in the military.")

His Galactic Warfighters work has been nominated for a Hugo this year (unfortunately as part of the Puppies slate.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker (28 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Very cool, though I died a little when he set up a shot where someone blows dust and debris all over the scene, him and the camera, while he does a burst. The shot is worth it, but gaaaah... maybe DSLRs aren't so bad for this.
posted by fatbird at 1:31 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


Why is Warfighter a word?

This is really neat.
posted by kafziel at 1:38 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


The stills and the captions together are reminiscent to me of one of the earliest digital-era fan films, Troops. I would have to think Callahan must be familiar with it. I like his project here vey much.
posted by mwhybark at 1:54 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


Apparently, in the US, "warfighters" go places to attack enemies, as distinguished from members of the military who perform peace-keeping, security, or support roles. The need to make this distinction at all says a lot about how America's sprawling global military footprint, as well as its protracted overseas engagements, have created a generation of soldiers for whom enlisted service that takes someone overseas no longer automatically constitutes "going off to fight in a war."

All of which makes the photographic conflation of US military personnel with imperial clone troopers that much more unsettling.
posted by belarius at 3:11 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


"Warfighter" is a word, I thought, because "soldier" applies only to members of the army (not Navy, Marines, Air Force, etc) and using "troop" when refering to a single service member just sounds wrong. It's traditionally used as a collective noun.

Of course "service member" works, but it has a lot of syllables and the connotations (customer service, getting your car serviced, "membership has its privileges") aren't as good as those of "soldier" for poetic or progandistic purposes. It sounds sort of passive. I bet someone suggested "warrior" for internal DoD use and got shot down because it sounded too aggressive. Like Klingons, prone to get into stupid fights... But "warfighters" don't start wars, they just fight in them.

It's a pretty good rhetorical move, I have admit. A little forced, admittedly, but the singular "troop" drives me so nuts that I'll take "warfighter" over that even if it is trying-too-hard.
posted by OnceUponATime at 3:46 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's also non-gendered, which I really appreciate. As much as it still sounds like something Klingons might say, it's actually more progressive and enlightened than "serviceman".
posted by OnceUponATime at 3:48 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


That is some complicated semiotics right there.
posted by freebird at 4:20 PM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


Warrior is the obvious alternative, but as anyone who has watched original Battlestar Galactica know, Americans have trouble pronouncing warrior. This has been bothering me since 1978.
posted by biffa at 4:26 PM on May 8, 2016


I suppose "GI" now calls nothing to mind more strongly than e coli.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 4:32 PM on May 8, 2016


My recollection is that "Warfighter" was promoted by the military after 9/11 as a an attempt to change their culture, which was perceived as out of touch. That's when people started commuting to the Pentagon in their battle dress.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 4:38 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


so, uh... he sees himself as a "storm trooper"?

I think all of the linguistics works better in the original German...
posted by ennui.bz at 5:11 PM on May 8, 2016


so, uh... he sees himself as a "storm trooper"?

No, he sees himself as "bridging the gap" between military and civilians by explaining the former to the latter. Clone Troopers are just an out of the box method of doing that.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:25 PM on May 8, 2016


It's kind of funny how he picked Storm Troopers as stand-ins for marines, though. I mean, in the worst case, he's saying they're evil, horrible shots, totally faceless and disposable, and in service of a totalitarian, fascist, ruthless evil empire.

Or, in the more generous, post-The Force Awakens reading, they're individuals who suffer and have personalities and their own problems, but in the service of a totalitarian, fascist, ruthless evil empire. Not the best look either.

As for "bridging the gap", his photo descriptions (in the non-Storm Trooper feed) are the typical gung-ho bullshit you'd expect, so I don't see a lot of humanizing going on, and I don't think people who are not already fond of the military will come out of this liking it more. He's got a great eye, though.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:33 PM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]


No, he sees himself as "bridging the gap" between military and civilians by explaining the former to the latter.

By "humanizing these characters" ie. the stormtroopers. If this were some art school kid it'd be criticized as being totally over-the-top axe grinding. I mean, come on, he's taking iconic pics from the War against those fanatics in the rebel alliance on Terror and posing them with storm troopers.

Also, it's not like LucasArts "humanizing" the original stormtroopers by retconning the whole "clone trooper" thing has anything to do with the political changes in the US from the post-Vietnam era to the post-Reagan era.
posted by ennui.bz at 5:39 PM on May 8, 2016


Also, it's not like LucasArts "humanizing" the original stormtroopers by retconning the whole "clone trooper" thing has anything to do with the political changes in the US from the post-Vietnam era to the post-Reagan era.

What are you talking about? Nothing got retconned there.
posted by kafziel at 5:54 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


"Stormtroopers" or assault troops were actually an evolution in German trench warfare tactics, and a reaction to the stalemate "conventional" warfare of the Western Front.

The Canadian Corps adopted these techniques before their British counterparts, which is why the Canadians developed such a great reputation as shock troops later in the war.
posted by My Dad at 6:05 PM on May 8, 2016


Also, come the fuck on, the guy isn't an idiot. His use of Imperial troopers is a deliberate choice which is absolutely intended as condemnatory. He's saying a) we (Imperial civilians) don't know shit and b) acting as Imperial footsoldiers is intended to be dehumanizing and c) Imperial clone troopers are literally stored until used and lack normative human family socialization and as an artist who is a Marine, he identifies with them.

He's dragging his teeshirt through the blood of one of those kids killed at Kent State in 1970 and running around waving in front of the camera, hoping to warn us away from the world we live in. He's fully engaged as a creator and this stuff is obviously pretty easy to read as a straight-up celebration of authoritarian imperial violence. But it very definitely is not.
posted by mwhybark at 6:07 PM on May 8, 2016 [8 favorites]


He's fully engaged as a creator and this stuff is obviously pretty easy to read as a straight-up celebration of authoritarian imperial violence. But it very definitely is not.

umm... dude works in "public affairs" for the military. not saying you are wrong but it's very ambiguous...
posted by ennui.bz at 7:07 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


I definitely get some subversive vibes from it but I'm not sure those are intentional from the author's POV...really cool camera techniques though
posted by Doleful Creature at 7:09 PM on May 8, 2016


he started this project at the "defense information school" at fort Meade, with a bunch of other wounded storm troopers.
posted by ennui.bz at 7:10 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


I wonder if it is because of the associations with Storm Troopers that the singular "troop" came into use instead "trooper." Like if news stories said "40,000 troopers will be deployed in the surge" it would make us all think if storm troopers... if that's one of the reasons "warfighter" is used instead of "trooper," then it's kind of ironic that he's referring to these pictures of Storm Troopers using the word "warfighter."
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:30 PM on May 8, 2016


I hate to be the nerd pedant about this, but those aren't Imperial stormtroopers; they're Republic clone troopers. They didn't fight the Rebellion; they fought the Separatist movement.

I didn't even watch Episodes II and III, and I knew this via osmosis of ambient culture. Try harder, nerds!
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:05 PM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]


Well pedanted, Parasite Unseen, and his captions reflect that. I retract the Imperial lingo I used above. This subtracts a layer of irony from my reading.
posted by mwhybark at 10:16 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


I mean, yeah, thanks for the pedantry and all, but I don't think it matters at all here. He's recreating dramatic photographs from real actual wars and he's doing it through the lens of his very favorite childhood entertainment.

My dad made dioramas of WWII battles and took pictures of them, too. Because he thought it was cool. Because he worshipped the military. How is this any different? It's not.

Some folks might read a bit of subversion in these images but I really, really don't think the author ever meant that. He is glorifying war using the cultural grammar of Star Wars. That part makes me a little uncomfortable, but I get where it comes from. I bet my dad would think these pictures are really cool, too.
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:27 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


Ignoring the semiotics for a moment, it’s really impressive how much 'realism' he imparts to the images. I mean, if you look at the colour footage of him setting up the shots, even without any human-scale things in view, it’s obvious that these are models, with hard limits on the level of detail in their paintwork. But the photographs have a verisimilitude that feels real; despite the static models they are full of movement and life.

It’s the same effect a good painter aims for - to bring that static image to life. These images are small works of art.
posted by pharm at 1:19 AM on May 9, 2016


Metafilter: That is some complicated semiotics right there.
posted by hanov3r at 8:35 AM on May 9, 2016


One: GI refers to the General Infantry, so that is even more specific than soldier/sailor/marine and isn't a good term to refer to your general military member.

Two: As for warfighter, I served honorably as a Sailor for six years, and although I served aboard a warship I wouldn't ever call myself a "Warfighter" and not just because it's a dumb term. I served during wartime but my life was never in danger from opposing forces, I never shot at anyone, never saw my friends in danger or killed. My military experience, as shitty as it was, was nothing compared to what those people go though in hostile territory.

To me, that's what a warfighter is. I was a Sailor, and a Service Member, not a warfighter.

As to using clone troopers as stand-in marines, I think you all vastly misjudge you average marine's mindset. I can totally Picture them look at that symbolism and unironically say "Fuck yeah!"
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 11:09 AM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


GI refers to the General Infantry, so that is even more specific than soldier/sailor/marine and isn't a good term to refer to your general military member.

That depends
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:18 AM on May 9, 2016


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