Twelve drawings made by @christinabalit, in response to the work of Giles Duley for his @studio_vent project. CHRISTINA BALIT - "Giles Duley spent two decades documenting and photographing the lives of those who are now living with the legacy of War. I was introduced to Giles's work by my son - who tentatively suggested I might like to take part by responding to Giles's images in my own way - as a 'direct action' in its own right - against war. I hesitantly decided I could attempt to respond - with drawing perhaps - pen straight to paper. No preliminary pencil, no erasures and no cheating. To try and look as closely as I could to the un-fussy and un-embellished images that Giles has shared from the hospital in Kabul and pay genuine attention. I found it far harder than I imagined. The first thing I noticed in the photographs was that you could not see the injuries that each person might have endured. Just the absolute directness of how they all look straight into the camera lens and the variety of hospital gowns that they're wearing. Hospital gowns strip us all of status and identity. They're tied at the back and expose us. They broadcast how vulnerable we are. In the photographs some gowns are buttoned to the neck, others reveal bandaging underneath. One child clearly has his head wrapped in hospital netting and a man - an incredibly beautiful man - is missing an eye and half of his face. His skin seems yanked together on one side and crudely stitched - and I'm sure it was the best they could manage under the circumstances to 'repair' him. I felt a colossal responsibility. And perhaps that's the point. So I just started. With no idea as to how the drawings would evolve upon my pages. It became tortuous, and difficult - loaded even. But I decided not to stop until I had attempted all twelve. Ultimately I realise its probably an inadequate response - I have no legitimate access to what these men and women have experienced...but I feel closer to them regardless through doing it. I've had to look very closely for many hours into all their eyes...and I'm glad of that.” @opx.studio @legacyofwarfoundation @emergency.ong