BARDUFOSS, 19, NORWAY -- A silence permeates the snow-covered terrain of Norway, broken only by the crunch of combat boots on snow and the whisper of graphite and wax gliding across textured paper. Each stroke struggles against the cold and snow to capture a single moment hidden from cameras.
In this harsh and unforgiving land, two combat artists bear witness to the daily sacrifices of U.S. Marines and Norwegian soldiers who will take part in the NATO exercise Nordic Response 24. Enduring a bitter cold that brittles wax and dampens paper U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Michael Reynolds and his colleague Richard Johnson strive to document the human experiences happening 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the frozen environment of Norway.
For Reynolds and Johnson, authenticity is paramount. They insist on enduring the same bitter temperatures, rugged terrain and harsh conditions as the Marines. They forgo the ease of drawing from photography, instead relying on their own eyes, minds, and hands to draw the world around them.
“A camera is a very mechanical way of observing the environment,” Reynolds said. “It’s fantastic for evidentiary processing, but it doesn’t always convey the same emotion that the human camera can, as an artist, does.”
Johnson, who through his art documented the Marines in their build-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom, recounts seeing the bravery of many photographers and speaks fondly of them and their craft while acknowledging the differences between their mediums.
“I’ve known photographers who are unbelievably brave individuals who have captured unbelievable images,” Johnson recounts before addressing the difference between photography and hand-drawn art. “It’s a mechanical lens versus a human lens. A camera has that lens distortion that is not likely to really keep what you look like. An artist can give that real view of the world. One of the things that strikes me about the difference between art and photo is you really connect with people on a visceral level, perhaps differently than photographs do.”
Combat Artists Capture Arctic Training Ahead of Nordic Response 24
Photo by Master Sgt. Jon Holmes
Richard Johnson, a combat artist with the Marine Corps Combat Art Program, finishes a drawing from his barracks room in Bardufoss, Norway, Feb. 5, 2024. Johnson drew a Norwegian soldier who was standing guard in Setermoen, Norway. Combat artists capture hidden moments in military life and immortalize them through coal, ink, graphite and wax, preserving the emotion and details of the moments for generations of Marines. NR 24 is a Norwegian national readiness and defense exercise designed to enhance military capabilities and allied cooperation in high-intensity warfighting in a challenging arctic environment. This exercise will test military activities ranging from the reception of allied and partner reinforcements and command and control interoperability to combined joint operations, maritime prepositioning force logistics, integration with NATO militaries and reacting against an adversary force during a dynamic training environment.
Johnson, a long-time member of the Marine Corps Combat Art Program, recalls the impact he has seen from his art, especially when he returned from documenting the Marines in Iraq.
“When I first returned from Iraq, I arrived to a stack of mail on my desk,” Johnson said while attentively focusing on an unfinished piece documenting the Marines’ cold weather training in Setermoen, Norway. “In the newspaper world, when someone writes a letter, you’ve really pissed someone off so when I got back, I thought ‘Wow I really pissed someone off’ but a lot of the mail was positive and a lot of them really attached themselves to the art and the story of soldiers far from home. It was such a shock to get that kind of response, and it’s continued, especially with the portraits. There is something about human nature and the construction of the material that relates to humanity, and it translates to other people as well so the viewers also get some of that same emotion coming through the art.”
“It’s fantastic for evidentiary processing, but it doesn’t always convey the same emotion that the human camera can, as an artist, does.” Maj. Michael Reynolds, a combat artist
Reynolds agreed, before reciting a quote he once heard “Artists are highly emotional people who report back to the world how they interpret it.”
“What we do captures emotion, spirit and stories of individual people,” Reynolds explained. “So I think that’s part of what it takes to be a combat artist. It’s someone who observes their environment around them in a way that not everybody does.”
As the artists continue their work in the frigid Arctic, they are driven by a sense of duty to authentically capture the sacrifices and humanity of the Marines. Their detailed drawings reveal the bitter cold, fatigue and steely determination in the eyes of their subjects. Fueling that passion to capture these moments is a kinship that Johnson has built over the years.
“I have a real affinity for Marines,” Johnson said while reviewing his drawing. “They kept me safe in Iraq when I had no idea what I was doing in a dangerous environment. So, the closer I can get to the grunts and show their day-to-day, the better I feel. And it really is hard to find harsher conditions than February in Norway. It is really diabolical out there. And it’s important to remind people that they are out there. It’s about capturing those Marines for all time. It’s nice to remind people what they are going through.”
Long after this training exercise ends, the artists' powerful sketches will stand testament to the human faces of courage and service they witnessed during Nordic Response 24. Their work immortalizes quiet moments of hardship and camaraderie, granting future generations a window into the timeless nobility of the Marine spirit.