Observed Portraits, 2nd prize
Healing Bobby
Peter Agtmael
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos
12 June, 2013
Bobby takes a swim in a motel pool, after visiting the father of Rodney McCandless, a comrade killed in the explosion in which Bobby sustained his burns.
Bobby Henline (42) was the sole survivor when the humvee in which he was traveling was blown up, during his fourth tour to Iraq, on 7 April 2007. Bones in his face fractured, burns covered close to 40 percent of his body, and his left hand later had to be amputated.
During the recovery process, he kept up the spirits of other wounded soldiers by telling jokes, and his therapist encouraged him to take up stand-up comedy. He now makes a living as a comedian, with a routine that focuses on his own injuries.
Peter Agtmael
Peter van Agtmael (b. 1981) graduated from Yale University in 2003 with a degree in history. Following graduation, he spent a year in China on the Charles P. Howland fellowship p...
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