American Lives, Painted By Iraqis

“Turning photos into paintings has long been a side business for the commercial artists of Baghdad, but it has never found more eager consumers than the Americans.” Even under current conditions, Iraqi artists can do brisk business with U.S. troops — though the artists and their subjects no longer meet because fraternization is too dangerous. Instead, they rely on go-betweens to shuttle soldiers’ snapshots and the paintings they become.