CONTRIBUTORS

As the world's foremost war historian and the defense editor for London's Daily Telegraph, SIR JOHN KEEGAN has met his share of politicians and military personnel. Keegan was pleasantly surprised, then, when he recently sat down at the Pentagon with a calm, poised, and amicable Donald Rumsfeld. "I found Rumsfeld a fascinating chap, not a hard-faced tyrant," says Keegan, whose profile of the secretary of defense starts on page 126. As for war with Iraq, Keegan says, "There's not a great deal of support in Great Britain. I'm an odd man out. I'm pro-American, pro-Rumsfeld, and I think the world would be a better place if Saddam were knocked off his perch." Keegan's book about intelligence in warfare is due out this fall from Knopf.

Writer and photographer EDWARD GRAZDA has traveled to Afghanistan more than 20 times and has published two books on the country, but the impetus for his most recent trip occurred in 2001 at an Afghan Independence Day festival in Queens, where he met photographer Khalid Hadi. Grazda was struck by Hadi's work from his native country. "In the photos, the wounded and the amputees don't have any self-pity as they present themselves to Khalid," says Grazda. "There's this wonderful innocence about them, which a Western photographer would not get." On page 138, Grazda recounts his and Hadi's search for photos of the Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Though the third volume of JOHN RICHARDSON'S monumental four-part biography, A Life of Picasso, comes out in 2004 from Random House and the writer is acknowledged to be the world authority on the painter, the "Matisse Picasso" show that arrives in the U.S. in February still held surprises for him. "What is interesting is that it showed how much Picasso learned about scale from Matisse," says Richardson, who was friends with Picasso and met Matisse twice. "It was from him that Picasso saw how to use scale in new, and much more sophisticated and effective, ways." Richardson is also working on a second volume of his essay collection, Sacred Monsters, Sacred Masters.

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According to contributing editor STEVE GARBARINO, "Gaining any sort of access into the Hell's Angels' ranks is like trying to infiltrate al-Qaeda." For his piece on page 98, Garbarino—who as a boy loved to watch the Angels thundering down the turnpike from the back of his family's station wagon—earned enough trust to be let into the biker fold and spent six months hanging out with members. "They can be exceptionally generous and good-humored with semi-invited strangers," he says. "There is a reticent kindness transparent through all the tattoos, scars, and gravelly talk."

Famous in his own right for his iconic portraits of notable people, contributing photographer HERB RITTS felt "at home" with Salma Hayek. "She had this rhythm and feisty way about her that I liked," he says. Ritts's two days with her allowed him to see various sides to her personality. "Besides the running around and upbeat mood on the beach, there was another mood, in which she was more inward." And unlike other big stars at photo shoots, Hayek, Ritts was pleased to discover, didn't micromanage the lighting. "She knew she was being taken care of and realized that I knew what I was doing."

BRUCE WEBER'S expedition to Sweden provided him with the chance to do the kind of spontaneous photography he relishes. "I have this little band," says Weber. "We have assistant photographers, hairdressers, and a makeup person. It becomes like a rock 'n' roll tour, but instead of singing, we're taking pictures." Comparing the project to his 1986 book, O Rio de Janeiro, Weber found the Swedes to be trusting and easygoing. It's the kind of story that would have been impossible in the U.S., he thinks. "Today a photographer driving in a car cross-country would meet a different America than, let's say, Robert Frank did many years ago. You probably wouldn't be able to take many pictures, because people wouldn't let you."

Associate copy editor DAVID FENNER'S quiet, studious exterior masks an adventurous side. A Montana native, Fenner spent 11 years as a newspaper reporter in Montana and Chicago, covering everything from wildfires to backcountry manhunts. "I miss my newspaper days," says Fenner, "but they're easy to romanticize." While spending the last four years holding V.F. to the highest grammatical standards, Fenner also completed an M.F.A. in writing from Vermont College. "I'm definitely inspired by the West in my writing. It's one way of maintaining a connection to home, I guess."

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