Lynsey Addario Book Report
In the novel, It's What I do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario, award-winning photojournalist, Lynsey Addario, tells and relives her life story of how she accomplished becoming such a huge name in photography and all of the struggles that went along with doing so. She primarily covers war conflicts; so of course, there were bound to be more than just a few difficulties in her career. Though, Addario always has stood by her decision to be a photojournalist, and to be one that covers serious subjects in order for these important situations to receive attention.
Lynsey Addario has always felt a constant sense of obligation to photographing the world around her, even when she was in situations that involved risking her life. In a sense, this strong urge to constantly jeopardize her life in order to simply take pictures could be considered selfish with regards to her family and loved ones who remain in a state of wonder of her safety and health whenever she leaves for weeks on end to dangerous areas in the world. Although, people do need to take into account that someone has got to do this job. Photojournalism is one of our world's most reliable sources for evidence of what is really going on in different humanities across the globe. This career also needs a person who is dedicated to their work, who is dedicated to getting the story and the truth. And considering that Addario undeniably has loved capturing the world around her through a lens, why would anyone stop her? I understand her sense of obligation to this specific career, because she desires to make a difference in the world, as does anyone else.
Lynsey Addario also is famous for all the exquisite techniques she uses to shoot eye-capturing photos. One reason why she can always seems to shoot a photo at the right moment is because she is patient and waits for the perfect moment to appear. A mentor of Addario, Bebeto, taught her the art of patience. "...Bebeto taught me to linger in a place long enough, without photographing, so that people grew comfortable with me and the camera's presence." (Pg. 38). Because of this, it seems as if though Addario is able to capture the whole scene of what's going on all around here, including the intense emotions, even if there is only one subject in the picture by being patient and experimenting with multiple perspectives. A good example of this would the photograph on page 133 of an Iraqi man leans against the wall in grief as he walks along rows of remaining bodies discovered in a mass grave south of Baghdad on May 29, 2003.
A lesson that I learned from this book, even it isn't necessarily directly related to photography, is that one needs to stay persistent and determined in order to do and get what they want out of life. Lynsey Addario was constantly flooded with comments about her work being too dangerous, yet she ignored that noise and continued to do what made her happy. "For years, my only dream was to work for the New York Times, and now my work for them was part of journalism's greatest award. I was honored and overwhelmed." (Pg. 254). She achieved her dream by simply continuing to work hard and do what she loved. This is very inspiring to me personally.
There are a few pieces of her work that stand out to me in this novel. One of them is the photo on page 45 of a transgendered prostitute trying to attract a client. This picture stands out because the subject's intents are clear, and the dark lighting of the picture compliments the environment since the situation is rather sketchy in general. A second example is on page 135 of a Saddam woman walking through a mass grave. It is a beautiful and heartbreaking moment. This one jumped out to me, not only because it was a gorgeous photo that perfectly captured the subject on a dark, dreary day, but because Addario herself was struggling with capturing the right photo that wasn't cliche of dramatic woman wailing in grief at their dead husbands' and sons' graves, and she wound up catching this unique perspective. The last photo that really caught my eye was of a South Kivu woman named Bibiane on page 192. There is just so much emotion and simplicity in the photograph. Tears are streaming down her face when recalling horror stories of torture and rape. It leaves the heart with sharp pains of sorrow because of how clear it is that she is hurting. These three photos are some of my favorite, but nearly all of Addario's photos are breath-taking.
My favorite quote in this novel is on page 304 where Lynsey Addario writes, "I had interviewed suffering people all over the world, and they never felt like victims. They felt like survivors. I had learned from them." This quote speaks to me on an other level. Addario has been through so much, and so has so many people in this world, and this is because life is hard, and it can be harder for others. But no matter what life throws at us, we need to be able to get back up. We need to show life that we are all warriors in different ways. And we will show life that we're not its victim; we are its survivors.
I would recommend this books to others, even if they aren't majoring in journalism. It's an interesting story filled with emotion, action, and ethics. Lynsey Addario is a pretty incredible person all around, so her memoir is a good read. It's What I do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War will keep the audience reading more and aspiring to do more.
Lynsey Addario has always felt a constant sense of obligation to photographing the world around her, even when she was in situations that involved risking her life. In a sense, this strong urge to constantly jeopardize her life in order to simply take pictures could be considered selfish with regards to her family and loved ones who remain in a state of wonder of her safety and health whenever she leaves for weeks on end to dangerous areas in the world. Although, people do need to take into account that someone has got to do this job. Photojournalism is one of our world's most reliable sources for evidence of what is really going on in different humanities across the globe. This career also needs a person who is dedicated to their work, who is dedicated to getting the story and the truth. And considering that Addario undeniably has loved capturing the world around her through a lens, why would anyone stop her? I understand her sense of obligation to this specific career, because she desires to make a difference in the world, as does anyone else.
Lynsey Addario also is famous for all the exquisite techniques she uses to shoot eye-capturing photos. One reason why she can always seems to shoot a photo at the right moment is because she is patient and waits for the perfect moment to appear. A mentor of Addario, Bebeto, taught her the art of patience. "...Bebeto taught me to linger in a place long enough, without photographing, so that people grew comfortable with me and the camera's presence." (Pg. 38). Because of this, it seems as if though Addario is able to capture the whole scene of what's going on all around here, including the intense emotions, even if there is only one subject in the picture by being patient and experimenting with multiple perspectives. A good example of this would the photograph on page 133 of an Iraqi man leans against the wall in grief as he walks along rows of remaining bodies discovered in a mass grave south of Baghdad on May 29, 2003.
A lesson that I learned from this book, even it isn't necessarily directly related to photography, is that one needs to stay persistent and determined in order to do and get what they want out of life. Lynsey Addario was constantly flooded with comments about her work being too dangerous, yet she ignored that noise and continued to do what made her happy. "For years, my only dream was to work for the New York Times, and now my work for them was part of journalism's greatest award. I was honored and overwhelmed." (Pg. 254). She achieved her dream by simply continuing to work hard and do what she loved. This is very inspiring to me personally.
There are a few pieces of her work that stand out to me in this novel. One of them is the photo on page 45 of a transgendered prostitute trying to attract a client. This picture stands out because the subject's intents are clear, and the dark lighting of the picture compliments the environment since the situation is rather sketchy in general. A second example is on page 135 of a Saddam woman walking through a mass grave. It is a beautiful and heartbreaking moment. This one jumped out to me, not only because it was a gorgeous photo that perfectly captured the subject on a dark, dreary day, but because Addario herself was struggling with capturing the right photo that wasn't cliche of dramatic woman wailing in grief at their dead husbands' and sons' graves, and she wound up catching this unique perspective. The last photo that really caught my eye was of a South Kivu woman named Bibiane on page 192. There is just so much emotion and simplicity in the photograph. Tears are streaming down her face when recalling horror stories of torture and rape. It leaves the heart with sharp pains of sorrow because of how clear it is that she is hurting. These three photos are some of my favorite, but nearly all of Addario's photos are breath-taking.
My favorite quote in this novel is on page 304 where Lynsey Addario writes, "I had interviewed suffering people all over the world, and they never felt like victims. They felt like survivors. I had learned from them." This quote speaks to me on an other level. Addario has been through so much, and so has so many people in this world, and this is because life is hard, and it can be harder for others. But no matter what life throws at us, we need to be able to get back up. We need to show life that we are all warriors in different ways. And we will show life that we're not its victim; we are its survivors.
I would recommend this books to others, even if they aren't majoring in journalism. It's an interesting story filled with emotion, action, and ethics. Lynsey Addario is a pretty incredible person all around, so her memoir is a good read. It's What I do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War will keep the audience reading more and aspiring to do more.
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