Still from Cross of Iron (2001)

Notably ambiguous - boy or girl, staged or passively observed - Collier Schorr determinedly fails to play it straight. 'Still from Cross of Iron', taken from a series of photographs of new recruits in the Swedish military, is typically open ended. 'My plan was to document conscripts,' says Schorr, 'particularly during their downtime, waiting for a war that never comes'. Wary of her intent, the Swedish authorities refused her access, so Schorr to replayed likely scenarios using young nephews of a friend. Scale here too plays a part. 'Still from Cross of Iron' is small, the image just 7 inches square. Accustomed as we are to the full blown, blown-up colour photograph, Schorr introduces a sense of intimacy to this quietly captured moment of neo-romantic volkish reverie.