Home » On The Line

Finbarr O’Reilly

14 December 2017 | Email This Post Email This Post | Print This Post Print This Post

The award-winning photojournalist Finbarr O’Reilly discusses the book he’s co-written with Thomas J. Brennan, USMC (Ret.), Shooting Ghosts: A US Marine, A Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War (Viking, 2017), with Joseph Planta.


Shooting Ghosts: A US Marine, A Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by AUTHOR (PUBLISHER, 2017).

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Shooting Ghosts


Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

One of the more powerful books of the year; such a necessary read, is Shooting Ghosts: A US Marine, A Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War. It’s a joint memoir by a Marine and a photo journalist’s who forged a unique friendship in Afghanistan, what sort of war it was like for them, and what it was like for them to come home. There’s moving detail about Sgt. TJ Brennan’s injury during a Taliban ambush. The book also does a magnificent job at showing how posttraumatic stress disorder affects so many, not to mention the people around them, and how a lot of people overlook it because they’re not wounded on the outside. This is such a powerful book. Joining me now is Finbarr O’Reilly. He is an internationally acclaimed photographer, who has spent more than a decade in Africa and the Middle East. His work has won the World Press Photo of the Year prize, the highest honour in news photography. He has held fellowships at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and the MacDowell Colony. This book is published by Viking. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, from here in Vancouver earlier this week, Finbarr O’Reilly; Mr. O’Reilly, good morning.