M-246 Semi Automatic Weapon, Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal, Iraq

In 1975, at the end of the Vietnam War, a teenage An–My L&#234 was removed from Vietnam by the American military. That experience, coupled with living as a refugee in the United States, formed the basis for her long–term exploration of the American military. L&#234 spent roughly one decade photographing U.S. Navy noncombat missions in over 20 countries including Ghana, Indonesia, and Panama. Here, a semiautomatic weapon symbolizes the security that coalition forces provided between 2004 and 2009 to a key Iraqi oil terminal on the coast of the Persian Gulf, which had suffered repeated attacks over the previous 30 years. L&#234 situated the paraphernalia of military conflict within an idyllic vista, layering the geopolitical landscape onto the natural one.