Brian Auer runs a terrific photography blog at Epic Edits, and he has posted some photos from Zoriah, a freelance photojournalist embedded in Iraq. Just recenlty, the U.S. military stripped Zoriah of his permissions to remain embedded with Marines in Iraq due to his refusal to remove a blog post documenting the aftermath of a suicide bombing. Zoriah believed that he was following all of the rules surrounding the posting of images (specifically, the protection of the identity of individual soldiers). However, the military Public Affairs office demanded that he remove the blog post and the photos anyway.

I truly labored with the decision to post these images and I still do. But in my heart of hearts I know that people need to see and feel the reality of this horrible situation. How can things change if all that comes out of Iraq are sanitized, white-washed images of war designed for mainstream media outlets who focus on making money, not on the quality and truth in what they report?

Zoriah states that he has a background in humanitarian aid and disaster management, and as such he often photographs war, conflicts, crisis, and disasters. He finances most of his work himself, relying on donations.

The important events and issues I cover aren’t always the subjects that sell to corporate media. These human stories need your support and funding to be told.

zoriah_iraq_war_baghdad_soldiers_mission_sand_storm_Iraqi_woman©zoriah/www.zoriah.com

His blog showcases his recent photos and personal stories in Iraq. More of his photos can also be found on his Flickr photostream.