STEVE MUMFORD, BAGHDAD JOURNAL booksigning, BARNES & NOBLE, 6th AVE, CHELSEA, Sept 21, 2005

artist INKA ESSENHIGH, Steve Mumford's wife. The first inscription in the book is dedicated to her. "For Inka, whose fear for my life never got in the way of her faith in my project...." Baghdad Journal booksigning, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, AN ARTIST IN OCCUPIED IRAQ, Drawn & Quarterly Books, Montreal, Quebec 2005, Publisher: Chris Oliveros, Publication Design: Black Eye Design. First hardcover edition: September 2005 (click on image - for full screen direct scan: Baghdad Journal book cover)

the book has the feel & weight of a high quality hard cover sketchbook. The writing, presented as bonafide journal entries, is absolutely as compelling as the images ..."I first crossed into IRAQ from Kuwait on April 15, 2003, with two French reporters, Michelle Bole-Richard and Remi Sulmont. Michelle had generously offered me a seat in their SUV after I'd been languishing in KUWAIT CITY, wondering how I'd get into IRAQ with no contacts, a small budget, and a presss pass from artnet.com..." - Introduction, STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, AN ARTIST IN OCCUPIED IRAQ, DRAWN & QUARTERLY BOOKS, MONTREAL, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 6: "Basrans getting water from a truck as British soldiers try to control the crowd" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 172: "Lt. Brian Suits' platoon picking up Iraqi soldiers for a mission. In civilian life Suits is a conservative radio talk show host in Seattle. His ironic sense of humour often mystified the Iraqis" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 182: "Kids in Zafariniya, Baghdad, scramble for candy tossed by soldiers from the Washington National Guard. This was a regular ritual on every patrol in this sector, anticipated by the kids, and tolerated by their parents" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 12: "This guy was called 'the Crazy Russian,' although I never found out why. His 113 vehicle is stationed at the entrance of a former electric company, 2/7 Headquarters Co.'s base" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 16: "Pfc Bennet, Task force 2/7, 3rd ID, in Baghdad" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 140: "Mike, a contractor assigned with John to FOB Scunion, teaching crime scene investigation techniques to Iraqi cops in Hibhib. Mike found that the station had no cameras, let alone a crime lab, so he emphasized simpler techniques of cordoning off the scene, preventing family members from removing the body, and interviewing bystanders" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 127: "A woman killed when the car she was riding in failed to stop after warning shots during the battle. After being shot up, her car collided with a tank. Expecting a car bomb, the crew braced for the explosion that never came" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

detail, PLATE 127: ... & from the INTRODUCTION:..."Over the months..I've had ample time to consider what it is that makes drawing in a war zone different from photojournalism...if photojournalism captures a decisive moment, making a drawing is more about lingering with a place and editing the scene in a wholly subjective way...for me, the act of drawing slowed down the war, recording the spaces in between the bombs" (pg. 21) - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 27: "Sama a divorced Iraqi woman who worked at Task Force 2/7's store" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, Barnes & Noble, Sept 21, 2005

PLATE 55: "Suspects at CMOC" - "After dinner I link up with a couple of officers and we climb into a Bradley. A third man jumps in. He introduces himself: 'I'm from Queens, I've killed a few people and I like what I do'." (pg. 84) - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal. image scanned directly from the book.

PLATE 142: "Abbas and Mohammed waiting for errands at the CMOC rear gate. Every US base had a bunch of kids like these, who hung out at the gate and ran errands to buy whatever the soldiers needed. They made a good living off their profits and became close with the soldiers" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, AN ARTIST IN OCCUPIED IRAQ, DRAWN & QUARTERLY BOOKS, MONTREAL. Publisher: Chris Oliveros. image scanned directly from the book.

PLATE 38: "The view from behind Ghost troop's barracks, Sadr City" - STEVE MUMFORD, Baghdad Journal, AN ARTIST IN OCCUPIED IRAQ, DRAWN & QUARTERLY BOOKS, MONTREAL. image scanned directly from the book. In conclusion - BAGHDAD JOURNAL is a page turner from the very first sentence, and regarding the illustrations - WINSLOW HOMER & EDWARD HOPPER - move over !!!