All images © Benjamin Lowy / VII Network

Tendrils and plumes of oil have covered the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, leaving a viscous mess in the open sea. The environmental disaster that was caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is horrible and will no doubt have a long lasting impact on the Gulf. While on assignment for GQ magazine covering the disaster, I was struck by how beautiful the congealed pockets of crude were. Floating on the sea, swirling with the seawater, they looked strangely like abstract paintings. These are close up images of the pools of oil that stagnate on the surface of the Gulf.

—Benjamin Lowy

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All photos © Benjamin Lowy/VII Network

Here are 14 photographs from Benjamin Lowy’s ongoing Iraq | Perspectives project which he began in 2005. Shot from the confines of a Humvee, Lowy creates a tableau vivant of life in Iraq offering a glimpse into the bleakness and desolation of a country ravaged by war.

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