Courtesy Eric Greitens
A Navy SEAL, award-winning author, Rhodes Scholar and humanitarian, St. Louis-born Eric Greitens certainly has his hands full. Most recently, he was recognized at the 2010 MLB All-Star game as an “All-Star Among Us,” for his work as the CEO of The Mission Continues, an organization that empowers wounded and disabled veterans to continue their service as citizen leaders back home.
On October 17, Greitens opened an exhibit at the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, featuring a compelling selection of 10 photos from his book Strength and Compassion, which was released in November 2008. Images from eight of the nations Greitens visited for humanitarian work are included. “The book is about people who are living through some of the world’s most difficult circumstances are able to find ways to bring hope to their lives by doing service and relying on their strength,” he says.
The images were selected because they represent a strong cross section of the regions and themes of Greitens’ work. Some of these images include photos of street children in Bolivia, survivors of the genocide in Rwanda, people outside one of Mother Teresa’s homes in India, kids in communities in Cambodia that lost limbs because of landmines, Bosnian refugees in Croatia, among others.
One of the most memorable photos for Greitens is of a young Bosnian girl living in a refugee camp (above). The photo depicts the girl drawing a picture of a house with a chalk rock on the pavement. “For me, it was evocative because of her history and what it meant for her to have a home,” Greitens says.
His humanitarian work overseas originally began out of a desire to study the services provided to Bosnian children that had lost their parents due to ethnic cleansing or who were separated as the result of refugee movements. Upon his return, he found that the photos he took “were really important because they helped one human being connect to another,” he says. “Most of the images we see from these regions are of people in grave danger, but we rarely see images of people who are actually continuing to persevere.”
The exhibit marks the first time actual photos from the book will be shown in a museum exhibit. Not only is the exhibit significant to Greitens because it’s in his hometown, but having the exhibit at the Holocaust Museum “speaks to the desire of the community to look to the past and see how these lessons apply to the present,” he says.
The show focuses on images of people around the world who, though they are suffering great injustices, manage to defy their circumstances and provide for others in their community. Greitens hopes that visitors “will be inspired by the incredible strength and courage of human beings and also inspired to recognize their own ability to be of real service to people that are facing great challenges.”
Strength and Compassion: Photographs and Essays by Eric Greitens runs through December 31; admission is free. Open during regular museum hours, except during other special events. 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon–Thu, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Fri, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Sun, closed Sat. Call ahead to confirm. Holocaust Museum & Learning Center, 12 Millstone Campus Drive, 314-442-3711, hmlc.org.
