By day, I'm an historian at Indiana University, South Bend, where I teach 20th century U.S. history, cold war histories, and photographic/ film histories. My publications include Edward Lansdale's Cold War (University of Massachusetts Press, 2005) and articles on the Vietnam War and the CIA. I'm currently working on a cultural history of the CIA.
When not thinking and worrying about the past, I'm a photographer. This website documents three thematic series that have shaped my photographic interests over the last twenty years.
The first photo series began in 2002 with "stray gloves." Here I used a Canon Elph2 camera while walking the streets of New York City. In 2006 I started "The Gravity of Sky" using a Panasonic DMC-FX01 in Seattle, which is why many of these photographs show cloudy, rainy skies. I later used a Sony A6000 and various iPhones in Europe, Washington, DC, New York City, and South Bend to capture airplanes in their various environments. During a Fulbright semester in 2023-24 in Vietnam, I created "Vietnam | Motorbikes | Motion." These photos were all taken with an iPhone, and I marvel that I was not sideswiped in traffic during this period. This series is currently on display at IU South Bend's library. Here's the press release.
You can reach me at: jnashel@gmail.com or fill out the form below.
Thank you!