Lynsey Addario

In reading the prelude and first chapter of "It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War" by Lynsey Addario, the thing that stood out most to me is Addario's courage and confidence. The book begins with her in Libya, photographing a revolution against the country's leader Mummar el-Qaddafi. While at this point she has been a war photographer for years and has seen so much destruction, she has kept going. She says, "While covering war, there are days when I had boundless courage and there were days, like these in Libya, when I was terrified from the moment I woke up. Two days earlier I had given a hard drive of images to another photographer to give to my photo agency in case I didn't survive. If nothing else, at least my work would be salvaged" (Pg 2). This quote stands out to me because even though she is admittedly terrified for her life, staying there and capturing everything going on around her is a bigger priority than leaving and being certain of survival. While I don't see myself following photojournalism to this extreme, I find it inspiring how dedicated Lynsey Addario is and how incredibly passionate she is about truthfully depicting the events and people she sees every day in her dangerous line of work. Of the photos in this book, my favorite is a close-up shot of a South Kivu woman's face- she has her eyes closed and tears are rolling down her cheeks. This photo shows suffering on a very personal level,  and the sorrow emulating from this woman is unmistakable.