How does it smell? Taste? Does its voice ever leave the ears it has reached?

The closest many Americans have come to the realities of the war in Iraq is the distance between themselves and the glass screens of their TV transmitting heavily-edited bits of satellite signal from the Middle East.

For Polk and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times photographer Ozier Muhammad, the glass separating himself from such pandemonium is much less isolating.

And inherently more honest.

Tonight at 7:30 in Van Meter Auditorium Muhammad will present “Through the Lens: A Photojournalist’s Account of the War in Iraq” about his embedded experience with the Marines in the war.

Students can ask questions after the lecture.

A Columbia college grad, Muhammad has been a photojournalist since 1972. He lives in New York City with his wife, Lisa Redd, and their two children.

Reach Natasha Allen at features@wkuherald.com