Lynsey Addario: My Favorite Photo

Lynsey Addario is an amazing photojournalist who has many lessons to teach. After talking to my classmate who assures me that Lynsey is doing a great job at describing what it’s like overseas in these various war zones, I feel even more connected to her story. 

I most admire how many sacrifices Lynsey is willing to make for her career as a photojournalist. Lynsey had a long distance boyfriend in Mexico and struggled to keep that relationship going strong while balancing work. The relationship ultimately came to an end. That’s just one of the many sacrifices Lynsey has had to make for her career. If I felt so passionately about my career in the same way Lynsey does, I think I’d be willing to make the same sacrifices.


My favorite quote from our most recent readings is on page 139. She’s just arrived at a desert camp of starving refugees in Darfar. They weren’t in a famine, but were instead so immensely drained from the desert they all had to travel before arriving at the refugee camp. 

“The people understood that I was an international journalist, but I was still trying to figure out how to take pictures of them without compromising their dignity.” 

I like how she copes with this issue she is faced with. She always approaches her subjects the same way: carefully and respectfully. She always asks for permission to photograph individuals in this sort of situation. They almost always say yes. Lynsey likes to get deep into the stories they have to tell without making the subject uncomfortable. 

This is advice that I can use in my journey as a photojournalist. I want my subjects to be comfortable with me as the photographer, so I'll always try to be respectful.

source: Lynsey Addario

My favorite photo that Lynsey shot so far into the story is this one above. In this photo you can see an Iraqi man leaning up against a wall after walking through rows of dead bodies. These bodies were taken from mass grave sites around Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Lynsey described it as, “evidence of the brutal, bloody regimen of the former dictator.” It'a a very powerful image that holds a lot of emotion.