A photographer’s journey across the country to photograph veterans took her to Connecticut.
Retired US Air Force Staff Sergeant Stacy Pearsall snaps photographs.
She’s taking a portrait of Marjorie Newtown from the Eagleville section of Mansfield who served in the Air Force decades ago.
“I wanted to reminisce about my Air Force experience and get a photo,” Newtown said.
Pearsall was a combat photographer and was injured while serving in Iraq.
“Without the experience that I’ve had I would not be able to relate to these veterans,” she said.
She started the Veteran’s Portrait Project 11 years ago.
“I thought I would honor their service and respect their service with the one gift that I had, which was photography,” she said.
The Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton is Pearsall’s 43rd stop on a mission to photograph veterans across the US.
Of the photos were going display, others will be used by the department of Veterans Affairs.
“People that you see shopping in the supermarket, or going to church, is your neighbors,” said John Paradis, outreach specialist for the Department of Veterans Affairs. “So we like to see veterans, you know, you would see them. Photographs that Stacy takes represents us as veterans.”
“It’s not just a portrait,” Pearsall said. “The portrait is about 10 percent of this experience and 90 percent of it is really the exchange between two people and the sharing of like experiences and emotions and getting things off your chest.”
