Book Review: IT'S WHAT I DO (A Photographer's Life of Love and War) by Lynsey Addario

It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It takes a special kind of person to run towards conflict, instead of away from it. Moreso if that person is armed with nothing but a camera, and if she is female.

"IT'S WHAT I DO" has to be one of the most moving books I've ever read, describing how multi-awarded war photojournalist Lynsey Addario did her job in places like Darfur, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya.

From being embedded with G.I's and facing Taliban gunfire, to being kidnapped and tortured by Qaddafi forces, Addario's book reads like a thriller, except that it is a true account of the challenges that journalists all over the world face when they try to be the bridges that show what's happening on the ground to civilians and policy makers alike.

We share her heartache when an editor decides from the comfort of a plush New York office not to run a story, because it would be too critical of the War on Terror. We share the horrors of narrowly being missed by bullets and bombs. We share her wrath when she faces the unique assaults and threats inflicted on women, that her male counterparts are spared from.

Throughout, Addario's respect for all people and passion for truth shines through. She speaks almost lovingly of the Muslims she encountered who, despite belonging to the opposite side in battle, would graciously protect her and serve her tea and every courtesy. Likewise, she wrote of the cruelties of other Muslims who would hit a bound and defenseless woman in the face with fists. She acknowledges common humanity and kindness wherever she found it, knowing that it was her calling "to experience the worst in people but to remember the beauty."

"Under it all, however, are the things that sustain us and bring us together: the privilege of witnessing things that others do not; an idealistic belief that a photograph might affect people's souls; the thrill of creating art and contributing to the world's database of knowledge... when I am doing my work, I am alive and I am me. It's what I do."

Reading this makes one grateful for the relative peace and quiet we have at home, but also makes us more aware of the threat to our journalists, especially in the Philippines (we are the 7th most dangerous country for them, being beaten by Somalia, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Mexico.)

Photojournalists are ambassadors for truth, and while not all of us have the means nor desire to risk our lives on the front lines, Addario's book inspires us to cherish our many peacetime gifts, and to be grateful to those who make that peace possible. While smartphones allow us mere citizens to document events, Addario's example reminds us that real journalists are a rare breed very much apart from us mere mortals, and we would do well to honor and follow their brave quest to expose Truth.

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