Book Report

“It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War,” by Lynsey Addario was an educational, and thrilling read for me. I found the “Women Are Casualties of Their Birthplace” chapter to be the most riveting story. Addario’s telling of the African women’s traumatic stories and their strength even through their horrific experiences was heart wrenching and eye opening. The women survived kidnapping, rape, contracting fatal illnesses, and bearing their rapists children only to escape and find their husbands/families unaccepting of them for being taken against their will, and in turn suffered abandonment of the worst kind. I look up to Addario’s passion to show raw, unfiltered stories to the public through her photos. I admire her sense of moral responsibility when pursuing war zones -- she empathizes with the people and their stories, and respects the cultures. If I were in her place, I hope that I would have half the courage, empathy, and righteousness she holds. Although she’s sometimes shy and tentative with subjects, her passion for her photos always came through, she managed to get her shots regardless. I was able to use that this term. Like many others, I’m also sometimes shy when it comes to shooting subjects, and looking at where Lynsey Addario is today is inspiring. She has received international awards for her work, she’s a New York Times bestselling author, she’s considered one of the most influential photographers from the last quarter of a century, and much, much more. I liked her work with transgender prostitutes in New York in the late nineties, before she was a war photographer. She showed them as is in her photos, and they were obviously comfortable with her. I appreciated her open mindedness, and I also loved how they referred to her as “The Camera Lady.” (Pictures shown in Chapter 4: “You, American, Are Not Welcome Here Anymore”) But my favorite photos of her’s were the images that went with the stories that stuck with me: of the African women Bibiane, Vumila, and Mapendo. The photos are of the women in their homes, emotional, straight-faced, and suffering from illness, but resilient and accepting of Addario with her questions and camera. 

Bibiane, 28, South Kivu
lynseyaddario.com

What resonated with me the most in Addario’s memoir was when she wrote, “The women also put my life of privilege, opportunity, independence, and freedom into perspective. As an American woman, I was spoiled: to work, to make decisions, to be independent, to have relationships with men, to feel sexy, to fall in love, to fall out of love, to travel. I was only twenty-six, and I had already enjoyed a lifetime of new experiences.” I think it really puts it into perspective for most of her readers. It’s easy for me to forget how very privileged I truly am as a young American woman. I can receive an education (including higher education), I’m blessed with endless opportunities, I can marry for love -- if I want to, I can travel independently, and just have rights and freedom.