 Mae wedigylched arall, o'r cyfrun genedliethol, mae'n meddwl i'ch fath o'n brydydd, trofwch, barod o'r rhannu, roeddwyl gwarodol, ond iddyn nhw i ni'n jion. Mae'r myfyrdd jwyl wedi cyfafchildrenio ar yr eich Ynigllun, gyda'r gweithio'r cyfrwch, gallwn ar gyfnodur diwrnodau i amlŷch. Mae'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud yn gyfrwch, I walked in. I realised it's going to be one of the most traumatic shoots I've ever had. He went right up to me aggressively with two fingers pointing into my chest and he said, You better be photographing a guy who's happy and not some kind of snarler. Get it? Wow. So what was happening? Now all I can do is give you my take. You see I have witnessed many heads of state and government as they leave office, they go through a very painful transition of power. Suddenly there is time to reflect on their legacy to get perspective on the decisions that were made when they had the seat of power and I suspect he was going through a very difficult time himself. So what does he do? The last thing he wants is someone like me recording that painful process on film. So he wants me to show the mask of politics. In every picture he insisted on this ridiculous goofy smile. And I thought I was failing as a storyteller and as a photographer because all I was getting was the lie. But sometimes the mask tells you more about the truth actually than the truth does. So Tony Blair. I loved Tony Blair and this was also after he left office. And I said to him you know Tony the day you were elected I was a humble art student in England facing a terrible recession and no opportunities of a proper career. And I cried tears of joy because I thought finally my generation have got a leader that is one of us. This look comes over his face and he says well that's all very nice but did I live up to your expectations. To me I've witnessed power very intimately not intellectually but from a human gut level and it does definitely include one side which is good leadership is power, authority, charisma, capacity to make important decisions. But good leadership is also about something else and that is service. And how can you be a strong dynamic character and yet still regard yourself as a servant of the people. Sometimes there's a conflict there and for me to learn about service I didn't learn enough of that from the heads of state I've worked with. I needed to go somewhere else. So I decided to do a big large scale photo essay once I was taken on by the New Yorker magazine and it was called service and I wanted to photograph ordinary people, men and women who serve their country in America in the armed forces. Now I did this work eight years ago and I wanted in all earnest to avoid all politics. I'd kind of had enough of it and it was time to just focus on the humanity so I'm going to show you some pictures. I got embedded with the US military for about nine months. This is graduation day at West Point Academy. It could have been something from 150 years ago. Then basic training. This soldier, it's his first day. So they shaved his hair off, they've given him new clothes and he's not got his boots fitted yet so he's waiting in the corridor to have his boots. He's stripped of his old life and look into his face. There's a sense of strength, courage, excitement about serving his country. He stands to attention in front of a civilian like me. So it's not much to say about this. It kind of speaks for itself. But in the desert in California, the US military own about 100 square miles and they have built Iraq and Afghanistan in that desert. And they simulate towns in those places for their soldiers. And two weeks before deployment, all the US military soldiers go to this place and it's called the Suck because it's about as brutal experience as you can get as close to war. And this was during that time. They have a street called Trauma Lane and they employ hundreds of civilian Iraqis to have a marketplace to sell fruit, vegetables, to simulate a real town. And the soldiers are driven in in a platoon and then they're ambushed. And IEDs go off, rocket propel grenades. This Humvee is blown up three times. And over here you see a soldier coming out screaming covered in fake blood from Hollywood makeup artists. And he's holding bits of his body screaming in pain saying somebody help me. And they do this to desensitise the soldiers so that when they get used to seeing these things, when it happens for real, they're not rendered defenseless. This is the guy who's a role playing amputee. He's the one that was in the previous picture. And again, it's Hollywood makeup. They put blood all over him to make it even more effective. His job is to shock. This is the Humvee. Blown up three or four times a day. This is in California. And this lady is an incredible lady. She's the head recruiter. And she employs so many people from Iraq to work for the US government to help advise on cultural behaviour, on how to treat people with dignity, so that when they go into people's houses, they know how to behave. Then I got involved with the Navy. This is Seaman SS linebury. And every day on a ship, they choose one of the sailors to lower the flag at the end of the day to put the ship to sleep and then raise the flag to wake the ship up in the morning. And you can see the sense of pride and dignity in his face because it's his first day out at sea. And he's so proud to get the chance to do that. This is him and his friends. It's like anchors away with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Now, this is Maiden voyage SS Antonio. And this sailor, he's never been out before. He's about to be deployed. He doesn't know how long he'll be away from home and they don't tell him where he's going either. And you can see that sense of mystery of his future in his face. The families that are left behind. Great sacrifice from the families. Women with young children will probably have to bring up the children for at least a year. Perhaps in some terrible cases, a lot, lot longer. And women who are pregnant also know that they will give birth without their partner or their husband present. Saying goodbye to your boyfriend or girlfriend or your wife. It's very, very painful. This little boy, his daddy is in the Marines. Pretty much guess what he'll be doing when he grows up. I went to a marine wedding. And it was a beautiful day. There was this so much pomp and circumstance and so much love and respect. And then after the ceremony, I got an opportunity to photograph the bride. And she sat for me and all of a sudden this happened. And everything changed. And this face, this sadness in her face. And I said, you should be so happy. Congratulations. And she said, well, my new husband is being deployed tomorrow. And they tell me the chances are he'll be away for a year and a half. And hopefully he'll come back. So my wedding didn't really last very long, she said. So this is the point where everything started to turn for me on my journey. And I now started focusing on the return. Because at this point it was all about mobilisation, forward thinking, excitement to serve your country. So this is the return. I waited with this young girl for about five hours for her fiance to return from war. He's been away for maybe 12, 13 months. Now these guys are like rock when they come home from war, physically and mentally in some cases. And he pulls up in the Humvee, drops his bag. And this young lady charges at him like a team of wild horses and nearly knocks this guy over with a force of love that I've never seen. In fact, I had to tilt the camera, you can see, because I wasn't expecting the composition to do that. The hug, the embrace. The first moment you embrace your loved one after so long. But looking to his eyes, something's changed. The idea of service has shifted and there's pain now. There's sacrifice now. This picture was taken at the Army Hospital, Walter Reed. And it's divided in two halves. The top half is love, trust, loyalty and compassion. The bottom half is pain, tragedy and sacrifice. You see, she's his wife. And she looks at us and she's saying something very important. There's a transference of power right now. She's taking over. And she says with a protective arm around her man, I've got him home. And no one, no one will hurt my man ever again. And for the first time he feels a sense of strength in her so that he can let go. I went to Arlington Cemetery and I photographed many bereaved families there who had lost sons and daughters in America's most recent wars. And one day I saw a lady right across the end of the cemetery. And every day she goes to her son's grave who died fighting in Iraq. And she brings a little fold-out picnic chair and she sits down and reads a book to his spirit. I was so moved by this beautiful expression of dealing with loss in a very dignified way. And so I went over to her and I explained what I was doing and asked if she would sit for me and she graciously agreed. She took the book she was reading and she placed it at the bottom of the gravestone. And she got behind the gravestone and cuddled it as if she's hugging her son. Now I was so aware of our body language and the sensitivity of the moment that I didn't even notice that the book she was reading is the Quran. And I didn't even read what was on the headstone because I was focused on her mannerisms and I was just devastated by the fact that she closed her eyes for me. So it wasn't until I got back to the New Yorker and I was editing and I saw that there were these other elements added to the picture and it was an interesting story. We published this picture along with 20 other pictures in the magazine as part of this large scale photo essay and we published it three weeks before Obama his first election with John McCain. A week later I was watching the news on a program in America called Meet the Press and there's a very famous news anchor called Tom Brokaw who was the host. And he invited General Colin Powell to go on the news. There was an important statement to be made. So I was sitting watching with my wife and General Colin Powell said I have an important announcement to make. I can no longer endorse my fellow Republican John McCain. I am switching sides to support Barack Obama. Tom Brokaw, the news journalist said well with great respect General this is massive news. This is devastating news to the Republican party and it's only 16 days before the election day we're not even sure John McCain can recover from this because with you comes large parts of the military support and the Pentagon as well as many moderate Republicans will just follow you in support. What on earth made you change your mind? A photograph changed my mind said the general and he went on to describe this picture. He said let me be clear John McCain is a good man. He's a friend of mine and he's about as non discriminatory as any man could be. But I am disturbed by what I hear about the rhetoric in the Republican party. He said I hear at the back of the room sometimes in meetings Obama is a Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists. He said first he's not a Muslim. He's a Christian. But the real answer is what if he was a Muslim? He's wrong with being a Muslim in America. We are supposed to be a country united by our differences. We are supposed to be a country that celebrates the fact that we think and feel differently about things and we are supposed to be all free together. He said I saw a photograph of an American Muslim and she gave the greatest sacrifice to a country you could ever ask anybody to give her son's life. He said I would be very proud to stand by her side as a fellow American and even though I fundamentally disagree with Obama's economic policies I hope as a human being he will represent a more inclusive society. So I always put that above economic policies. So this picture was then voted the most powerful picture of the entire election. And it wasn't of Obama who I had worked with many times and it wasn't of John McCain who I'd also worked with or anyone powerful or famous or it wasn't anyone like that. It was a picture of the most ordinary lady dealing with something that we all have to deal with. The one thing that perhaps unites us all and that is that we all get to love and we all lose. So this is Jessica Gray she holds the flag they draped over her husband's coffin she has his wedding ring on a chain he was killed in Iraq few months before I took this picture and she had a three year old daughter. Now when you're killed in battle they send your belongings back to your loved ones in a metal box so she had not yet had the courage to open the box I was in her house and I suggested that maybe she should wear an article of his clothing as a tribute to him in the picture so she said well I'd love to wear his army t-shirt but it's in the box so now in front of me a complete stranger it was time to open the box I knelt by the box with her and we both undid one latch each and she did the lid she cried and I suddenly felt ashamed because here I am as a photographer almost being predatory and taking advantage of a situation for the sake of a picture and I knew this is one of those moments where I did cross the line and I apologised to her and I said please Jessica you've been hurt enough and this was the worst idea I ever had I don't want to put you through any more pain it's only a photograph let's leave this idea and she says you don't understand why I cry she says I'm crying because I just realised they washed his clothes and I wanted to smell him again this is what it is my friends to be alive these are the sensory perceptions that we all have as human beings no matter who we are and if I can dare to set you a homework assignment it's that you wake up tomorrow with a clear head and if there's anyone in your life that you respect, love or admire tell them because you still have a chance so I end with this picture eight years later as Obama prepares for the moment where he reflects on his legacy that you Bush did just like Tony Blair did and it slightly worries me that after eight years of progress in quotes the rhetoric is still there and unfortunately this whole photo essay that I did that should be well out of date now is troublingly relevant so thank you for listening