Interview: Corporal Jayel Aheram, Iraq War Photographer

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See a collection of Jayel's photography in a special music video slideshow we put together at:
http://tinyurl.com/aheramHD
Sam sings "Imagine" by John Lennon.

"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think. ... you will always find people who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy to live in the world and live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"

Jayel Aheram presents a collection of things seen, experienced, and lived while serving in the harsh deserts of Iraq and elsewhere. A unique view of events rarely seen in the nightly newscast, a point-of-view of one troop in a war zone and at home, and a glimpse of a vastly different and sometimes beautiful Iraq.

For more information, please visit his web site at:
http://www.aheram.com
and his Flickr aacount at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aheram

Though known for his caustic wit and spontaneous charm, Jayel suffers from an overwhelming excess of personality. He is a compulsive writer and often writes for his blog: Aheram Takes On... http://aheram.blogspot.com
He dabbles in art and video, but his main interest lies in photography. He is hopelessly addicted to the multi-player world of Zebedee LP MUD. He is a fierce advocate of free culture and a vocal opponent of overly strict copyrights. He adheres to Creativist principles and considers the pursuit of his own happiness a moral goal. He adores the color purple, butterflies, kittens, and strange beasts. He is a product of an international upbringing; at home anywhere from the land of the Rising Sun to the sun-scorched dunes where the ageless Euphrates roll.

In Jayel's words...

The Blogger

I launched Aheram Takes On... in early 2005. The blog has been through two design changes, three coding overhauls, and five different purges. In its current incarnation, it is a chronicle of my creative spirit creating, making, and living; a celebration of things that I value and an insight to my creative process.

I have been blogging on and off since 2000, but it was not a serious venture until early 2005 when I launched Aheram Takes On... It is part-art blog, part-journal, and mostly about me. It is nearly always all original content of my own creation, but I will occasionally feature deserving artists.

The Photographer

I am woefully ignorant of the history of photography and as much as I regret to say this, I cannot say I am influenced by any of the great pioneering masters like Ansel Adams and others. My work is neither an emulation of a particular style nor does it assume to present a specific policy. It is an exercise in extrospection, a documentary of the world and its people as I perceive it.

Early 2005 was full of new beginnings for me. It included the launch of my first serious foray into blogging, my enlistment with the Marine Corps, and the adoption of a new hobby. I woke up one morning deciding that I needed something new to occupy my time, something creative. Painting first and then photography came to mind. My interest in photography was piqued partly by my friend Sachenka Brinkley, an amateur photographer. A Flickr account and a new camera later, a career was born. In February 2008, Cat's Eye became live. It is my professional gallery which I use to highlight selected works and portfolios.

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[aheram]

Intimidated. But I should not have been, because he really was nice.

[VLPRESL]

jayel is amazing on so many levels. his passion for his craft of photography certainly shows through in his photos. he is so well spoken and certainly sets a great example for the young people of today. thank you so much sam for giving us the opportunity to get to know jayel, and with his amazing talent, i know he will have a very bright future! xoxo-vicki

[ladolcevita210]

@wcduke id like to punch you in the face. why you gotta be so disrespectful, so people should unquestionably respect the peace corp when nobody even knows what the fuck they do.

[arraignloq]

what is everyones chosen weapon? i like the rpg personally. its simple to be able to obliterate every body with it! my roomie calls me a noob for using it however who cares. i am somewhat unique perhaps! however at the very least i didnt have to pay for the game. i downloaded it absolutely free by mw2forfreeZinfo (replace Z with . ) a couple of days ago

[bobitsuki]

Such a fine a man!

[benito1188]

cute pinoy accent

[wcduke]

This young man is just that - young. His experiences are actually not that worldly, his whole life has been centered around the military which offers a VERY narrow view. Everyone reading this should look up the word "jingoism" if you're not already familiar with it.

[wcduke]

..."old school thought" that needs to change. How about admiring/respecting the Peace Corp? How about encouraging our youth to affect change this way, instead of the military? The military's purpose is NOT peace-keeping, don't fool yourself. Sam, "sometimes you gotta punch someone in the face"? Wow, very disappointing. Instead, he could have talked to the guy and explained how he was wrong. Couldn't it be said that punching someone in the face is an act of war? Violence is NEVER the answer.

[wcduke]

...entire video felt like an affirmation of this young man who is very misguided, in my opinion. As a person who also grew up in a military family, I can assure you, it's a very different world. War and violence are glamorized. It is inescapable. It can't NOT affect you. His views today have been informed by this attitude, I guarantee it. I've written before in Sam's WOW forum that we need to change the paradigm in this country. The military should not be unquestionably admired. It is...

[wcduke]

Wow, I'm having a lot of difficulty with this video. So many thoughts. First, I know nothing of this young man except what I've seen here, so maybe he has some talent, I don't know. When Sam was going through the list, defining "creativist", the word "killer" was used. THIS IS A GOOD THING? In my mind, this negates most, if not all, of the other positive words in his description, regardless of the fact that it was during a war. His only experience is an unjust war, so who has he killed? This...

[sekydsined]

What a beautiful, positive, talented young AMERICAN man! A wonderful example of a member of our military! Makes me even more than ever want to be supportive of our troops! Thank you, Sam, and Thank you, Jayel.

[ivyshoots]

Jayel, what a wonderful, positive, interesting person you are! This video really made my day; your outlook on life and the world is so inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing your art and thoughts with the rest of us and thanks to Sam for introducing us to Jayel! (And a woo-hoo for Ron Paul!)