Excellence in Photojournalism, Photo Story
Arin Yoon, “The scars of war,” CNN
ABOUT THE WORK: For the past 12 years, I have tried to share moments beyond the dramatized images of battlefield action, emotional homecomings and veterans in crisis. I’ve photographed the often-overlooked everyday moments that make up this military life. The constant moves and goodbyes. Objects that make up this life that don’t exist in civilian domestic spaces. The days after a deployment, when a service member “re-integrates” back into the family and into civilian society.
Now, I capture this final transition out of the military because it’s not just my husband, John, who is leaving this life. It’s me and the kids, too. After 24 years in the Army, John started therapy for the first time. His therapist asked him to start writing down his thoughts. And I picked up my camera to tell this chapter of their story.
Arin Yoon (윤아린) (she/her) is a Kansas City based Korean American documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer. Her work focuses on the military community, trauma and healing, notions of family, and issues of identity and representation. Her project, tobeatwar.com, a multimedia interactive website which examines the lasting impacts of war through first person narratives from members of the post-9/11 military community, received First Place in the 2026 Best of Photojournalism Award in the Online Video, Presentation and Innovation- Innovation category by the National Press Photographers Association. Her personal work has been published on CNN, National Geographic, NPR, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Arin has exhibited at venues such as the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Seoul, Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and Photoville in New York. Her work is a part of the public collection at The Library of Congress and The Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University’s Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. She has an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts and a BA in Political Science & English Language and Literature from The University of Chicago. She is HEFAT certified.
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