Michael stokes pictures - Michael Stokes (photographer)

A few shed all of their clothes, while others left more to the imagination.

I noticed that most of them emphasized the lost limb, and that the mood was often sorrowful.

He then meets with them beforehand, getting to know them and giving them an opportunity to get comfortable before getting in front of the camera: 'Usually I spend quite a bit of time with them first, so I've never really sensed a lot of nervousness.

It all started Alex Minsky, a Marine veteran who had lost his leg to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.