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Week 5 Blog Post



LYNDSEY ADDARIO

I am absolutely loving Lyndsey Addario’s book It’s What I Do. I think it’s incredible what she has been through and that even when she’s in the lowest of lows or her life is literally in danger that she continues to shoot and those experiences drive her and make her love it even more. It’s amazing that she has this calling that very few people do. Especially as a woman! In her book she mentions in multiple places that she was if not the only female, one of very few females in the workplace.
There have been two things that have really made an impression on me. One being her obligations to capture even the most extreme of circumstances. Specifically what I have in mind is the end of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 when she is sitting on the couch in her apartment and the news of the 9/11 terrorist attacks comes on the news and she immediately knows what that means for her. That she must go as soon as she can. When you think of a terrorist attack you think of police officers, and paramedics, and the FBI, and firefighters, and bomb specialists, and doctors that need to show up. You never think of a photojournalist. Before this book I just never really realized the extent of a photojournalists job. The other thing that sticks out to me that ties in with question number four is how she basically sacrificed everything in her early adulthood life for this job.
One lesson I have learned from reading this book so far is to be aware. Obviously in the environments that Addario is in this is a whole new level but even in our everyday life we need to be aware of our surroundings. For two main reasons: to capture the best shots around us, and to respect the people around us. A good technique is to look with your eyes and THEN through the camera. Not searching through the lens. Addario has had to make many, many sacrifices to pursue her profession. She is always distant from her family (older siblings and parents), she can’t live the normal life that most of her friends back home are living (weddings, babies, steady jobs, etc.) and her love life is non existent. Let alone the fact that she can’t erase the images of war she has locked in her head.
This leads me to one of my favorite quotes from the book which is “real love should compliment my work, not take away from it.” Probably because I am a total romance fanatic but it’s so true! When you have a passion as strong as Addario has with photography the right person will compliment it. All of your passions. And I don’t believe any relationship should take away from anything you love. My favorite photo is on page 184 of the portrait. It is so simple and I love simple. The background is just the clear blue sky which really draws you into the emotion of the subject. It is so pure. I also like how you can barely see blurred faced in the background. It’s a really great shot!

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