Ashley Gilbertson
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War
Showing till December 5th 2007

About the Show
New York - NY GalleryBar's first major photo exhibition will feature works from photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson's soon-to-be-released book Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War (University of Chicago Press; October 2007; Hardcover).

The exhibition will feature nine life sized photos along with excerpts from the book . Gilbertson's photographs of the occupation of Iraq, particularly his images from the battle of Falluja in 2004, have established him, at the age of 29, as one of the foremost photojournalists in the world. The Whiskey Tango Foxtrot book and photo exhibit gathers the best of Gilbertson's photographs, chronicling America's early battles in Iraq, the initial occupation of Baghdad, the insurgency that erupted shortly afterward, the dramatic battle to overtake Falluja, and ultimately, the country's first national elections. It is a glimpse of the war through Gilbertson's lens: documenting not only the war, but the life of a young unaffiliated photographer, hoping to pick up freelance assignments in this violent part of the world. Major news publications around the world - such as Time magazine, The New York Times, and others - realized Gilbertson's gift in capturing iconic moments, and these captivating images began appearing regularly in the media.

Upon his arrival in Iraq, in the wake of the U.S. invasion, Gilbertson had no intention of photographing the war itself: instead he was documenting the plight of refugees. Moved by the heartbreaking story of Kosovar refugees living in Australia in 1998, Gilbertson set "That was the first time I was exposed to combat," Gilbertson writes. "I realized during the cold nights atop the mountain that while I had covered dozens of issues around the war, I had never looked inside it. I decided to expand my focus in Iraq from the Kurds in the north to the war in its entirety. All of a sudden people killing each other was my problem. I had started out photographing the effects of war, now I wanted to look at its causes and the way it was fought. I didn't know how deep into the fighting I would have to go, and what it would cost me."

No other Western photojournalist has produced such a sustained body of work in Iraq. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is one of the classic war photography books of our time, and a grippingly honest chronicle of this war from behind a lens. The exhibition of photos at GalleryBar is sure to be as powerful and unflinching.

GalleryBar is pleased to feature photographs from Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War Monday through Saturday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 am and Sundays from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm until its closing on December 5th .

Ashley Gilbertson was born in Australia and lives in New York City. His photographs have appeared in Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, U.S. News and World Report, and other publications. Among many honors, Gilbertson was awarded the prestigious Robert Capa Gold Medal for his photographs of the battle of Falluja and was named the National Photographer of the Year by the National Photo Awards in 2005.