Eros Hoagland, one of my favorite conflict photographers and all around awesome guy, has been awarded $20,000 through The Aftermath Project. Aftermath was created by Sara Terry as a way of exploring the lingering effects of war and help broaden the public’s understanding of the true cost of war. In light of the recent deaths of Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington, Aftermath announced a special grant for conflict photographers.

When we announced the grant earlier this year, which invited conflict photographers to reflect on the aftermath in their own lives of covering conflict, we weren’t sure what kind of responses we would get – whether any conflict photographers would be willing, or ready, to consider taking on such a personal project. But as an organization committed to creating conversations about the aftermath of conflict – in its many dimensions – we felt the time was right to offer the grant.

So it was particularly gratifying to receive many thoughtful, candid proposals. Our judges were photographers Ashley Gilbertson, Danny Wilcox Frazier, and myself; photo editor Maryanne Golon; and Denise Wolff, an editor at Aperture. We were all overwhelmed by the honesty and articulateness of so many of the applications – we could easily have funded five strong proposals on this subject, if we had had the funding.

Hoagland’s project, “The Green Room,” stood out for his candid discussion of several themes, including emotional disconnect; the consequences of being the son of a war photographer, John Hoagland, who was killed in El Salvador at the age of 34; the impact that choices made by war photographers have on loved ones; the mythology of war photographers; and the desire to foster a public conversation on war, photography, PTDS and our understanding of these topics. We look forward to seeing his project unfold. Read more.

I'm a huge fan of Eros' work. This is a very well-deserved grant and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the project.