This site-specific exhibition showcases a selection of photographs taken on Wilson’s recent trip to Afghanistan, and documents the British troops' final tour of duty and homecoming preparations.

As an official war artist, Wilson was granted unprecedented access to the personnel and logistical operations surrounding the drawdown in Afghanistan, allowing a rare insight into the process of ending war. These images offer a uniquely beautiful perspective on a much documented conflict with many never before recorded sights both on and off base. 

With funding from Arts Council England, we have secured 59 billboard and poster sites across England and Scotland to showcase the work. The outdoor show will be followed by an exhibition at Gallery One and a Half, featuring an extended edit of the imagery.

Each billboard’s location is determined by the biographical data gathered from the returning troops, allowing this outdoor exhibition to be both a literal and metaphorical return home. 

This pop-up approach sees images of individual military personnel infiltrate the commuties most affected by the Afghan war, and encourages us to actively engage with the conflict by juxtaposing familiar everyday locations such as a local Royal Mail depot with the Post Office in Camp Bastian, or a fortified bus stop in Kandahar appearing alongside a bus stop in Bristol. 

It is easy to think of wars as happening 'elsewhere' and to 'other people', but this project aims to highlight the toll that this war has taken in a relevant but unsentimental way, bringing the exhibition to the people, rather than the people to the exhibition.

In a year of retrospective imagery surrounding the centenary of WWI, these images provide a fresh perspective within the traditions of conflict photography.

This exhibition has been made possible with the support of the Arts Council England, the MoD, Posterscope, Gallery One and a Half, and our outdoor media partners.