New Orleans Photojournalist and Editorial Photographer Edmund D. Fountain - The Wounded Among Us
Army Sgt. Randy Swallows, 31, deployed to Sadr City, Iraq, from January 2005 to January 2006. He was discharged in 2007. Swallows has been diagnosed with PTSD and finds peace in both skydiving and photography.
‘Being in combat hunting for people is no different than photography. With shooting you've got trigger squeeze, breathing, sight picture, the mechanics, what grain bullet am I using? All these technicalities of shooting. Well, that's just to be able to accurately fire your weapon. Then you're out on patrol.
"All these stimuli are just ping, ping, ping. You've trained your mind to look for these things and then to bring the two together. Acquire a target and shoot at him.
"What's the difference between that and photography? Aperture, ISO, f-stops, which one to shoot? There's a foul ball cranking out to left field. Boom! Get six shots of the person before he ever catches the ball. There's no difference between hunting (and shooting) because you're walking through this environment hunting for things. Some people find (healing) in hypnotherapy and some people find it in volunteering, I found it in photography."