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A slice of military life

Former soldier’s art on display

Former Pennsylvania National Guard member Sgt. Joseph W. Brown, a Blandburg native who now lives in Pittsburgh, hangs a photograph for his exhibit at the Pennsylvania National Guard Readiness Center in Duncansville on Friday. (Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski)

After capturing the moments that made up the lives of the citizen soldiers serving as part of 56th Stryker Brigade, one former Pennsylvania National Guard member is sharing more than 100 of his photographs with the public this weekend.

Today, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 until 7:30 p.m., the Pennsylvania National Guard Readiness Center at 518 Municipal Drive, Duncansville, will become a gallery for about 123 photographs by Sgt. Joseph W. Brown taken during his 11 years of service. He has titled the exhibit “Hurry Up & Wait.”

Brown, a Blandburg native who now lives in Pittsburgh and works as a professional photographer, said he wanted to put on the show to honor his fellow Guardsmen, and it is his goal to give prints to his subjects.

The 31-year-old Brown said the title “Hurry Up & Wait” was chosen because while he was able to take his camera equipment with him to National Guard trainings and deployments, his duties always came first and so his photographs documented his fellow soldiers during the down times.

“In those moments, it was the only time to take these photos,” Brown said.

Brown joined the National Guard when he was 17, in September 2005, and during his initial 10 years of service was deployed to Iraq with the 56th Stryker Brigade for a year in 2009.

Brown said he joined the National Guard for the family aspect of it and was looking for “a concrete path when I was coming out of high school.”

He got into photography, and after studying at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Brown moved to Pittsburgh in 2010 to pursue his craft professionally. He continued to serve with the Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry and the 56th Stryker Brigade until 2015 and then returned for another year in 2017, culminating in a monthlong training in California’s Mojave Desert.

“My last training stint was in the Mojave Desert back in August,” Brown said. “It was a great way to end my career.”

Brown said it was in that setting that he took one of his favorites from this weekend’s show — that of a Lithuanian soldier standing in the desert with a lightning storm as the backdrop.

Included in the showing are three tintype photographs Brown took using the wet plate process from the 1860s. Brown said he started specializing in tintype photography, and after hauling his camera to Fort Indiantown Gap, he was the first artist to take photographs of U.S. infantry soldiers in the modern era using tintype photography.

“They had to stand still for eight seconds,” Brown said on Friday as he made preparations at the armory.

He said he is looking forward to seeing his fellow soldiers again and sharing his photographs and urged the public to stop by and see the images that capture the reflective and quiet moments.

Although no longer serving, his endeavor has had the support of the 56th Stryker Brigade.

“From Johnny Cash, to Norman Rockwell, to Hunter S. Thompson, many artists have served in the United States military,” 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Officer Major Gregory McElwain said this week.

“The 5th Stryker Brigade was fortunate to have Sgt. Joseph W. Brown stand with us as both a soldier and a photographer. We wish him success in the future and thank him for his service,” McElwain said.

More about Brown’s photography can be found at www.josephwymanphoto .com.

Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7458.

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