JT Blatty is sharing military stories through photos and writing. She recently published her memoir: Snapshots Sent Home: From Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine. In this interview we highlighted her time in the Army. She attended West Point and graduated in 2000. Going from peace time to war was unexpected experience but it led her to where she is today. She deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and then after leaving the service had the opportunity to head to Ukraine and found a human connection with the soldiers she met there.
Sharing military stories through photos
JT Blatty is a documentary photographer, photojournalist and writer. She graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2000. Following her graduation she served six years as an active-duty U.S. Army officer. She deployed with the first troops into Afghanistan following 9/11. Her second deployment was to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. After completing her service to the military, she pursued freelance photography and writing as a career. Working as a regular contributor for the New Orleans Advocate and as a FEMA disaster reservist photographer after completing an internship with National Geographic Traveler.
Documenting the Ukraine conflict
Since early 2018, she has been documenting the conflict in eastern Ukraine while simultaneously creating photographic/audio archive of the 2014 volunteer soldiers of the Donbas. This was exhibited in Chicago and NYC in 2019-2020, March 2022 in Kyiv postponed due to the full-scale invasion. The revolutionaries who self-deployed during the original Russian invasion and saved Ukraine’s independence. A 2021-2022 Ukraine Fulbright alum, Blatty continues her photojournalistic work in Ukraine. Recently she completed writing Snapshots Sent Home: From Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine (publication Feb 20 2024. The book is a military memoir that speaks of her journey in Ukraine, the volunteers, and a universal bond between combat veterans around the world.
