Stockland Martel

Throughout her career as an award-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker, Lauren Greenfield has shown an enormous empathy for her subjects. It’s a big part of what makes her work so moving and thought-provoking. Recently, she directed a pair of spots for the Army that center on family-the wives and husbands, sons and daughters, and parents who stand alongside the women and men serving in the military. The commercials, which honor the Army’s commitment to keeping military families “Army strong,” feature these ordinary, yet extraordinary, Americans both in portrait-style poses and in everyday circumstances. A supportive mom watching her son at football practice. A little girl enjoying a shaved-ice treat on the sidewalk of her subdivision. One of the ads includes a candid interview with an Army wife. The 30-second commercials are currently being broadcast, so chances are you’ve seen them. But if you haven’t, it’s worth going here for a look.