An LA-based artist has photographed wounded veterans with a twist - rather than take "sorrowful" portraits, he's focused on their strength and sexuality.
Michael Stokes, a fitness photographer, is raising money through Kickstarter to publish a book of his powerful photographs of 14 US Army, Navy and Marine Corps veterans of the Iraq War, Gulf War, and War in Afghanistan.
![Photo / Michael Stokes Photography Facebook](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/5I52ERT33T7MF5JNZJLKVEYQ3E.jpg?auth=435bf371ae3ca1c99c68716787553f6d10fe2873e1efba41946dfac3a2764b54&width=16&height=22&quality=70&smart=true)
![Photo / Michael Stokes Photography Facebook](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/S4UATH3KO5MZGUW7YKORAEO26Q.jpg?auth=acaaf3646092b6e7b5cd36011e0152ca91d5e90a8a65a9d730402532846c3733&width=16&height=13&quality=70&smart=true)
He was inspired to start the series two years ago when he met Alex Minsky, a soldier wounded in Afghanistan, who got him thinking about different ways to approach a portrait of an amputee.