Great hi-res photo archive from the Defense Department

I stumbled on to this photo archive when looking for an official photo of Bush. In the process I unearthed this incredible collection. At first I thought it was a little ridiculous with thousands of pictures including nearly 700 pictures of Rumsfeld — himself or various group shots with him in them. There are a few pictures of people he met too. It’s quite a collection. It was when I started actually looking at these shots that I realized there is a goldmine here.

What you’ll notice in this collection are some fantastic photographers. I’m highlighting only two that stand out amongst many. There are thousands of full-res photos here, many suitable for display at home, work, even galleries. I’ve printed and framed a few myself. Considering the fact that the New York Times is charging hundreds of dollars for archive shots, many of which are not as good as these, this seems like a great and inexpensive way to add art to the walls. And while most of these pictures are pure propaganda and some are just functional or useless, there are some incredible gems done by some serious photographers too.

One stand out is the obviously talented USAF Staff Sargent Jerry Morrison. This guy makes otherwise boring shots incredibly interesting with great composition. His use of shadows and deep colors is outstanding. When you plow through these photos you’ll find some that are simply jaw-dropping. Here is my favorite, with a caption.

A formation of U.S. Marines listens to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld as he talks to sailors and Marines of the USS Essex (LHD 2) while in port at Changi Naval Base, Singapore, on June 4, 2004. Rumsfeld is in Singapore to attend the International Institute for Strategic Studies Conference. DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison Jr., U.S. Air Force. (Released)

Since the photo (like most in this collection) is a whopping 3008×1960 pixels you can do a slice and find images such as this in the shot:

Then there are his killer portraits.

On the “follow Donald” tour of duty timeline USAF Tech Sargent Andy Dunaway seemed to have preceded Morrison. Their styles are so similar that they must have worked together at some point. Dunaway never gets as many goofy looks on people as Morrison, but Dunaway nailed some incredible group shots and seemed a little better with vertical (portrait) formats. Here are a couple of my favs. Both stunners.