Slow Healing

Photographs by Andrew Hida

On view: August 2 – September 4, 2009

Eight years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have produced a new population of traumatically brain-injured soldiers returning to civilian life, and in many cases to the front lines of combat. Dubbed, “the Signature Wound,” of the Global War on Terror, it is estimated that 20% of the wounded have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI has the ability to shift personalities, transform emotions, and result in permanent physical handicaps that erode the very characteristics defining a person. Changes are delayed. Adjustment is slow. And acceptance is uninvited. Slow Healing is a multimedia documentary tracing the aftermath experience of four soldiers’ long and tragic journey back home. Propelled into a reality deprived of their previous life, the road to recovery and healing is long, and often remains forever elusive. www.slowhealing.org

Andrew Hida is a multimedia documentary photographer who utilizes photography and new media to create positive social change. His work intends to provide a voice to the forgotten and buried communities, cultures and landscapes whose sole survival depends on the ability to remain visible to the global eye. As a former student of PCNW, his work has been exhibited throughout Washington State and supported in part by awards from the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, and 4Culture.