Mary Abbe, Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 27, 2009:

Legacy of an Ecocide: Agent Orange Aftermath

Chosen as the “Best Gallery Show of 2009”

“St Paul Photographer documents lingering aftermath of Agent Orange on Vietnamese Families” Review by Susannah Schouweiler, MinnPost.com, September 25, 2009

“Indeed, what’s most haunting about these beautifully made black-and-white prints isn’t the heartbreaking disfigurement bequeathed to innocent generations by Agent Orange.  Rather, it’s the abundant tenderness captured in these photographs that linger in the mind; fingers interlaced, a hand affectionately placed on a child’s shoulder, lovingly chosen baubles and youngsters decked out in their Sunday best to have their pictures taken. The friendly guilelessness of the younger generations in these photos is also striking, especially in contrast with the steely but tired gazes of their elder caregivers.”

“Photographic Journey on Display”, Red Wing Republican Eagle, September 19, 2009

One of Minnesota's true artistic treasures, Ytsma has spent years photographing a wide variety of subjects and has quietly but steadily put together a lifetime of superb work, Anderson Center officials said. Her eye for the great shot and the impeccable quality of her photographs have made her a master of her craft, her vivid, evocative images a testament to an extraordinary photographic career.

Comments left by visitors to the “Legacy of an Ecocide” exhibit & symposium held at St Catherine University,  St Paul, Minnesota in September, 2009, which was viewed by over 2,500 visitors:

“This work is not meant to gawk at or to cry over, but to open our eyes to an injustice in the world. It is up to us to learn the lesson it teaches, to act on that lesson and then teach it to others. I do not wish to have my fears confirmed, I would much rather cultivate change in the world and work towards that goal. This work ignites me to do so”

“Petronella Ytsma’s work is the most important document of ecological damage and its human toll since W. Eugene Smith’s photos of Minamata, Japan (the victims of mercury poisoning due to industrial dumping).”

“…These beautiful but heartbreaking photos should be shown to every politician, everyone who does not feel the consequences of war”

“It was so difficult to view - and so very necessary”

“I did not close my eyes. Thanks for helping me see.”

David Wells, Curator of the Groveland Gallery Show, “Petronella Ytsma & Friends” February 2023:

Legacy of an Ecocide, Ytsma’s most important body of work, is rooted in the Viet Nam War, a defining experience of her lifetime - a jumpstart to social conscience for many in our shared generation. She demonstrated against the war, saw veterans return as broken human beings, witnessed the immigration of Southeast Asian populations who aided the US, and the array of veteran’s cancers and medical conditions consciously denied health benefits by the US government. Legacy was Petronella’s quest for truth and to bear personal witness to the extreme costs of war, most especially those paid by the innocent exposed to the lingering effects of open dumps of Agent Orange and dioxin, US pollution of the Vietnamese landscape. These photographs of individuals born 2 to 4 generations after the war, many confined in hospitals and orphanages with all manner of heart-breaking defects, are hard to look at.  While confronting atrocity, they assert respect for the person and often, the love of a parent/family member caring for their children.  Born of Petronella’s social justice concerns, they are evidence of her compassion, empathy and unique ability to convey the beauty of the humanity of others through her photographs.