Machine Guns and Teddy Bears: A Peek Inside the Bedrooms of Israel’s Young ‘Fighters’

In his series Young Guns, British photographer Jasper White gives us a peek inside the bedrooms of Israel’s young ‘fighters’ as they are called—the men and women who are required by law to enter into the military at age 18. At the time of this compulsory conscription, youth are issued guns that they must keep with them at all times during their three-year service. Working with a local assistant who had recently left the army, White gained access to the bedrooms of young fighters between the ages of 18 and 22. The interiors are complex spaces—at first glance they are cheerful rooms home to a myriad of teens—that is, until our eyes eventually fall upon the menacing, deadly weapons. Their presence among the other items in the room teeters between youthful innocence and the loss thereof, revealing the gun as an everyday part of Israeli youth culture.

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