Lynsey Addario Quotes

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About Lynsey Addario

Lynsey Addario is an acclaimed American photojournalist known for her powerful and poignant images capturing human struggles and triumphs worldwide. Born on August 9, 1973, in Bronxville, New York, she was raised by a family deeply rooted in the arts, with her father being a painter and her mother a sculptor. This upbringing instilled in Addario an early appreciation for storytelling and visual artistry. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1995, Addario worked as a freelance photographer, but her passion for documenting the world led her to join the ranks of some of the most respected photojournalism agencies, including Getty Images and National Geographic. In 2007, she joined Magnum Photos, one of the most prestigious photography cooperatives worldwide. Addario's career has taken her to war-torn countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Sudan, as well as to areas affected by natural disasters and social issues such as AIDS, malnutrition, and poverty. Her work is characterized by her commitment to human rights, her ability to forge connections with her subjects, and her dedication to shedding light on untold stories. Some of Addario's most notable works include: "The Dixie Chicks: Taking the Long Way" (2006), which documented the band's controversial anti-war stance; "It's What We Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War" (2015), a memoir detailing her personal and professional journey; and her coverage of the Arab Spring, for which she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2011. Addario's work continues to inspire and provoke thought on the complexities of global issues, while also highlighting the resilience and humanity that exist even within the most challenging circumstances.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Every photograph that I've taken of a woman is an attempt for me to understand her a little better."

This quote suggests that renowned photographer Lynsey Addario views every photo she takes of women as an opportunity to deepen her understanding of them. It implies a desire to connect, empathize, and explore the complexities and individuality of each woman she encounters through her lens. In essence, it underscores her belief in using photography not just as a tool for documentation, but also as a means of building bridges between people and cultures.

"There's a certain power in being invisible as a woman photographer and documenting these issues from a unique perspective."

This quote by Lynsey Addario suggests that there can be a strength or advantage in photographers, particularly women, maintaining an unobtrusive presence while capturing images of sensitive or controversial topics. The invisibility allows them to approach their subjects from a unique angle, offering a perspective that might otherwise go unnoticed or underrepresented. This distinctive viewpoint can contribute significantly to the documentation and understanding of various issues.

"I am a witness to the world around me, trying to make sense of it through the lens of my camera."

This quote by Lynsey Addario encapsulates the role of a photographer as a chronicler of the human experience. She sees herself as an observer, recording events and moments that reflect the world around her. By using her camera, she attempts to make sense of complexity, to interpret reality, and to share it with others. This quote highlights how photography is not just about capturing images but also about storytelling, understanding, and conveying the essence of life.

"Photography is a way to show people what I see and experience, and in doing so, to make them feel something."

This quote by Lynsey Addario highlights photography's power to communicate emotions and share perspectives. By capturing moments and scenes that evoke feelings within the viewer, photographers like Addario are able to bridge gaps between cultures, experiences, and perceptions. Through their art, they help others understand the world in a more profound way, fostering empathy and connection among people.

"The more uncomfortable a situation makes me, the more I know I need to be there and capture those moments."

This quote by Lynsey Addario underscores her commitment to journalism and storytelling, particularly in challenging environments. It suggests that her discomfort or unease in a given situation serves as a compass guiding her towards significant, impactful moments that need documentation. In essence, she finds her purpose in capturing stories that others may avoid due to discomfort, thus contributing to a broader understanding of the world and the people who inhabit it.

My job is to take the pictures, communicate a message, to bring those images to the greater public through whatever publication I'm working for. My job is really to be a messenger, and that's what I've been doing.

- Lynsey Addario

Through, Been, Images, Messenger

Journalists dedicate their lives to covering war - they make many personal sacrifices, and it's not something that's gender-based. In a place like Libya where there's heavy fighting, it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman.

- Lynsey Addario

Woman, Fighting, Covering, Dedicate

Let's get one thing straight: I am not an adrenaline junkie. Just because you cover conflict doesn't mean you thrive on adrenaline. It means you have a purpose, and you feel it is very important for people back home to see what is happening on the front line, especially if we are sending American soldiers there.

- Lynsey Addario

Purpose, Line, Very, American Soldiers

If people really saw what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, then they might be marching in the streets to end wars. But you know, I think that no one ever sees because we're not allowed to see, and we're not allowed to publish what we do see. So it's quite difficult.

- Lynsey Addario

Streets, I Think, Allowed, Marching

Look, I would say that anyone who does this work and doesn't have a strain of idealism is an adrenaline junkie or completely narcissistic. There is no other justification. You're risking your life, and if anything happens, it's our families who suffer tremendously.

- Lynsey Addario

Other, Your, Our, Risking

One day I am at home, watching dramatic images of Iraqi Yazidis fleeing for their lives being aired nonstop on 24-hour news channels. Days later, I am there, staring at tens of thousands of displaced Iraqis and feeling a 35-millimeter frame cannot capture the scope of devastation and heartbreak before me.

- Lynsey Addario

Heartbreak, Before, Tens, Displaced

It was nice to be in my own country, where I didn't need a translator or a driver. Where I didn't need to figure out cultural references or what hijab I needed to wear to cover my hair.

- Lynsey Addario

Country, References, Figure, Translator

If publications want to publish images and stories from a certain person, they should put that person on assignment, cover his or her expenses, make sure they have access to security briefings and experts, someone to administer first aid, etc.

- Lynsey Addario

Access, Cover, Put, Publications

For me, it's more about being there, bearing witness to history, bearing witness to what's happening, what our country, the position our country is taking overseas. I want policy-makers to see the fruits of their decisions, basically, and to try and influence foreign policy.

- Lynsey Addario

Country, About, Our, Decisions

It's very hard to turn your back once you're aware of what's going on, and you're aware of the injustices, and you're aware of the civilian casualties. It's much easier if you have no idea and you've never seen it.

- Lynsey Addario

Idea, Going, Very, Injustices

I was kidnapped by Sunni insurgents near Fallujah, in Iraq, ambushed by the Taliban in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, and injured in a car accident that killed my driver while covering the Taliban occupation of the Swat Valley in Pakistan.

- Lynsey Addario

Covering, Occupation, Iraq, Sunni

You have two options when you approach a hostile checkpoint in a war zone, and each is a gamble. The first is to stop and identify yourself as a journalist and hope that you are respected as a neutral observer. The second is to blow past the checkpoint and hope the soldiers guarding it don't open fire on you.

- Lynsey Addario

Checkpoint, Hostile, Guarding

By the time the United States went to war with Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, I had made three trips to the country. I covered the fall of the Taliban in Kandahar and have been returning routinely for the past 14 years.

- Lynsey Addario

Country, Been, By The Time, Taliban

Nothing seemed more important to me than to make the world aware of the senseless death and starvation in South Sudan. I wanted people to see through the eyes of the suffering so my photos might motivate the international community to act.

- Lynsey Addario

Death, Through, South, Motivate

Most people, when they meet me, one of the first things they say is, 'Why would you voluntarily subject yourself to war? Why would you go into these places where you know there's a risk of getting killed?'

- Lynsey Addario

Why, Getting, Subject, First Things

I grew up in Connecticut, going in and out of New York City, and I worked in the city in the '90s. I was freelancing for the Associated Press, and I fell in love with New York.

- Lynsey Addario

Love, New, Going, Connecticut

As a Western woman in the Middle East, I am often put in a different category. I am sort of like the third sex. I am not treated like a man. I am not treated like a woman. I am just treated like a journalist. That is usually really helpful.

- Lynsey Addario

Woman, Middle, Treated, Category

Family is such a fundamental part of Islam, and women run the family. I had to force myself not to impose my own definition of political and social freedom on women in Islam, and approach each story objectively.

- Lynsey Addario

My Own, Social, Part, Objectively

The Taliban rose to power in 1996, vowing stability and an end to the violence raging across the country between warring mujahedeen factions, and to implement rule by Sharia law, or strict Islamic rule.

- Lynsey Addario

Law, Country, Islamic, Strict

I remember the moment in which we were taken hostage in Libya, and we were asked to lie face down on the ground, and they started putting our arms behind our backs and started tying us up. And we were each begging for our lives because they were deciding whether to execute us, and they had guns to our heads.

- Lynsey Addario

Behind, I Remember, Guns, Libya

Obviously I am a photographer and I believe in my medium: I do think that powerful photographs can force change. It doesn't take long to look and be engaged in a strong image whereas, with a story, you have to actually sit down and pause and be involved in it.

- Lynsey Addario

Strong, Believe, Engaged, Whereas

I'm constantly struggling. You know, the stories that I feel like I could cover, do the work that I want to do and being a mother. That's really where my struggle is - and being a wife and having a life - and for me it's really hard to find that balance. I'm always struggling to find that balance.

- Lynsey Addario

Life, Feel, Constantly, Struggle

If I'm doing a story on how a single mother copes in a refugee camp, I'll go to her tent; I'll follow her when she's working, see what her daily life is like, and try to pack that into one composition, with nice light, in one frame.

- Lynsey Addario

Life, Doing, Tent, Camp

As a war correspondent and a mother, I've learned to live in two different realities... but it's my choice. I choose to live in peace and witness war - to experience the worst in people but to remember the beauty.

- Lynsey Addario

Beauty, War, Learned, War Correspondent

When I'm documenting, for example, a story on women in Afghanistan, I will do a huge amount of research and a lot of time on the ground just getting to know the women before I even start shooting.

- Lynsey Addario

Will, Before, Amount, Documenting

I got rejected from journalism school!

- Lynsey Addario

School, Got, Rejected, Journalism

The possibility to mobilize the international community to act on human suffering is what drives me every day as a photojournalist.

- Lynsey Addario

Suffering, Every Day, Act, International

I knew that my interest lied in international stories. I was interested in how women were living under the Taliban, for example.

- Lynsey Addario

Living, Knew, Stories, International

With each assignment, I weigh the looming possibility of being killed, and I chastise myself for allowing fear to hinder me. War photographers aren't supposed to get scared.

- Lynsey Addario

Myself, Weigh, Assignment, Possibility

The more I photographed Muslim women, the more I was able to metaphorically strip away the burqas and hijabs, and start chipping away at the profound misconceptions that existed in other parts of the world about these women and their culture.

- Lynsey Addario

Other, Away, Muslim, Misconceptions

As a woman, I have tried to take advantage of the extra access I have in the Muslim world: with Muslim women, for example. Many people underestimate women in that part of the world because, typically, they don't work.

- Lynsey Addario

Woman, Access, Muslim, Extra

The first time I visited Afghanistan in May 2000, I was 26 years old, and the country was under Taliban rule. I went there to document Afghan women and landmine victims.

- Lynsey Addario

Country, May, Afghan, Taliban

Photography of any living being, according to Taliban rule, was illegal. So when I went to Afghanistan, immediately I was worried about photographing people. But it was what I wanted: to show what life was like under the Taliban, specifically for women.

- Lynsey Addario

Show, About, According, Taliban

I'm a very open person, very self-deprecating. I accept my flaws.

- Lynsey Addario

Very, Self-Deprecating, Flaws

I think there were times when I first started out, when I was covering Iraq - I was basically living there in 2003 and 2004 - that car bombs and attacks became so the norm that it was weird for me to leave and realize that no one else actually cared about what was going on there.

- Lynsey Addario

I Think, Became, Covering, Norm

When I first started out, I really felt like, 'I'm a journalist; I will be respected as a neutral observer.' And I don't feel like that holds true anymore. I don't think people respect journalists the same way they once did.

- Lynsey Addario

Feel, Anymore, Journalists, Respected

You have to believe 100 percent in what you're doing, that some picture or some thing we do is going to change the world in some tiny, minute way.

- Lynsey Addario

Doing, Some, Going, Change The World

As a photographer who is constantly in violent, bloody situations where the instinct is to turn away, I am always trying to figure out how to make people not turn away.

- Lynsey Addario

Always, Violent, Figure, Bloody

I just immediately connect everything to the wars I have been covering overseas, and that's not the case back home. I wrongly assumed all Americans at home were as consumed with our troops in Afghanistan as I was abroad.

- Lynsey Addario

Consumed, All Americans, Wrongly

A lot of women act like it's the easiest decision, and I'm just going to have a baby and put my life on hold and not be worried about it. Well, I was worried.

- Lynsey Addario

Decision, My Life, Like, Worried

I'm not very religious at all - I was raised Catholic, but probably haven't gone to church since my Holy Communion when I was about 6 or 7.

- Lynsey Addario

Holy, Religious, Very, Catholic

I've worked for over 11 years in the Muslim world, and the one thing that I feel like I've learned - who's to say if it's true or not true, it's just my experience - is that men don't like to see really strong, aggressive women in that area of the world.

- Lynsey Addario

Strong, Feel, Muslim, Aggressive

I didn't know a single female photographer who covered conflict who even had a boyfriend, much less a husband or a baby.

- Lynsey Addario

Husband, Boyfriend, Had, Conflict

The truth is, the difference between a studio photographer and a photojournalist is the same as the difference between a political cartoonist and an abstract painter; the only thing the two have in common is the blank page. The jobs entail different talents and different desires.

- Lynsey Addario

Political, Studio, Blank, Talents

Don't expect things to happen fast. Be empathetic with the people you are photographing. Don't be concerned about money.

- Lynsey Addario

Happen, Concerned, About, Empathetic

I always knew my death would be a possible consequence of the work I do. But for me it was a price I was willing to pay because this is what I believed in.

- Lynsey Addario

Death, Always, Consequence, Believed

I was undeterred by the danger of traveling as a single American woman through Taliban-governed land. I believed in the stories I wanted to tell, the stories I felt were underreported, and I was convinced that that belief would keep me alive.

- Lynsey Addario

Woman, Through, Stories, Believed

Becoming a mother hasn't necessarily changed how I shoot, but it certainly has made me more sensitive, and it certainly makes it much harder for me to photograph dying children.

- Lynsey Addario

Made, Becoming, Certainly, Shoot

Where in the world would I rather be than on the front line of history?

- Lynsey Addario

World, Front Line, Would, Front

I was lucky because I had parents who have enabled me to do whatever I was passionate about and never held my siblings and me back from anything. But I think a lot of people don't have that experience.

- Lynsey Addario

Think, Lucky, I Think, Sibling

I had imposed unspeakable worry on my husband, Paul de Bendern, on more occasions than I could count.

- Lynsey Addario

Worry, More, Imposed, Paul

For a journalist who covers the Muslim world, we have responsibilities to be familiar with that culture and to know how to respond to that.

- Lynsey Addario

How, Muslim, Journalist, Respond

My life isn't always at risk, even if I'm in a war zone. A lot of these places have areas of calm, so covering war doesn't necessarily mean being shot at all the time.

- Lynsey Addario

Life, My Life, Covering, War Zone

For me personally, I'm constantly trying to really re-negotiate how I'm going to make a living because I can't make a living solely off editorial. And I'm also still trying to tell long feature stories that are harder and harder to get assigned, you know.

- Lynsey Addario

Long, Tell, Constantly, Assigned

I had first visited Kurdistan in 2003 before the invasion of Iraq, camping out in Erbil and Sulaimaniya while waiting for Saddam Hussein's fall.

- Lynsey Addario

Waiting, Camping, Hussein, Visited

In so many countries, Western journalists are viewed simply as dollar signs. We're ransom objects.

- Lynsey Addario

Objects, Countries, Many, Dollar

Every story takes its toll on me and leaves an impression on me.

- Lynsey Addario

Me, Impression, Leaves, Toll

I never went to school for photography and started when I was pretty young. I was somewhere around 12 or 13. I started photographing as a hobby and carried that hobby through high school and university.

- Lynsey Addario

Through, Pretty, Carried, Hobby

I started freelancing for the Associated Press. I had a great mentor there who sort of taught me everything.

- Lynsey Addario

Mentor, Started, Had, Press

I wanted to continue doing my work, but I had to figure out how. And so what I have basically come up with is that I still go to Afghanistan and Iraq and South Sudan and many of these places that are rife with war, but I don't go directly to the front line.

- Lynsey Addario

Doing, Rife, South, Directly

My strength is looking for composition and light, and I think those things come in the quieter times of war or photographing people affected on the margins of war - civilians, refugees; that is where I really excel.

- Lynsey Addario

Think, I Think, Margins, Composition

I do think my childhood is one of the fundamental reasons that I'm able to do my job. We were raised in this totally nonjudgmental family. We never knew who was going to walk in the front door. And as a journalist and a photographer, you walk into so many different scenes that you have to be open to everything.

- Lynsey Addario

Door, Reasons, Fundamental, Scenes

I interviewed dozens and dozens of African women who had endured more hardship and trauma than most Westerners even read about, and they ploughed on. I often openly cried during interviews, unable to process this violence and hatred towards women I was witnessing.

- Lynsey Addario

About, Dozens, Witnessing, Cried

I'm not the kind of person to sit and dwell for ages on something that happened. I go through something, I experience it, I try to learn from it, and I move forward.

- Lynsey Addario

Learn, Through, Move, Move Forward

I wanted the ideal personal life, but I also wanted to keep rushing off, and that doesn't work, not unless you've got an incredibly understanding partner.

- Lynsey Addario

Work, Personal, Ideal, Rushing

Since Sept. 11, many of the wars of our generation are in the Muslim world. So as a woman, I have access to 50 percent of the population that my male colleagues don't.

- Lynsey Addario

Generation, Muslim, Sept, Population

I think when I started going to war zones and started covering humanitarian issues, it became a calling because I realized I had a voice, and I can give people without a voice a voice... and now it is something that sits inside of me every day.

- Lynsey Addario

Voice, I Think, Became, Calling

I've rarely seen portrayals of photojournalists that seem accurate.

- Lynsey Addario

Seem, Seen, Accurate, Rarely

To me, it's so much about doing your homework, going into a situation, getting to know the subject, making them feel comfortable, getting intimate access, getting access to all different aspects of people's lives so that I am essentially telling an entire story and not just a single image.

- Lynsey Addario

Doing, Access, Telling, Essentially

To me, it's so much about doing your homework, going into a situation, getting to know the subject, making them feel comfortable, getting intimate access, getting access to all different aspects of people's lives, so that I am essentially telling an entire story and not just a single one.

- Lynsey Addario

Doing, Access, Telling, Essentially

I come from a big family of hairdressers; they didn't read newspapers. I would say, 'I'm off to Afghanistan...' and they would say, 'Have fun!'

- Lynsey Addario

Have Fun, Big, Read, Big Family

It seems like, yeah, of course - I always think my work is important, or I wouldn't risk my life for it.

- Lynsey Addario

My Life, Think, Always, Risk

The fact is that trauma and risk taking hadn't become scarier over the years; it had become more normal.

- Lynsey Addario

Normal, Trauma, Over, Risk

I've seen so many photographers rush to do books the minute they start shooting, but one great thing about photography is that the images don't go away, so the more I sit with these images, the more I learn which ones have had the most impact.

- Lynsey Addario

Shooting, Away, About, Photographers

For me, taking photographs is such a tortured process. I'm always feeling like I'm not getting enough: I'm in the wrong place, the light isn't good, the subject's not comfortable.

- Lynsey Addario

Process, Always, Like, Photographs

Sometimes when I am photographing a major news event, I am suddenly overwhelmed by helplessness.

- Lynsey Addario

I Am, News, Major, Photographing

I would never think of myself as a role model.

- Lynsey Addario

Think, Never, Role, Model

I generally don't follow domestic news that much aside from how it relates to the stories I'm covering abroad, like what Americans think of the War in Afghanistan.

- Lynsey Addario

Think, News, Abroad, Generally

I think, for me, personally, I try to be sensitive to issues as I learn about them. And I also try to constantly become not only a certain type of person but also become more in tune to the issues I'm covering. As I get older, I think that things just affect me more.

- Lynsey Addario

I Think, Affect, Covering, Tune

I've always wanted to do a photo book, but I've never done one because I've never felt ready; I just didn't feel my work was good enough.

- Lynsey Addario

Work, Book, Always, Ready

In a place like Afghanistan where the society is completely segregated, women have access to women. Men cannot always photograph women and cannot get the access that I get.

- Lynsey Addario

Access, Always, Like, Photograph

With photography, I always think that it's not good enough.

- Lynsey Addario

Not Good Enough, Always, Photography

I didn't want my gender to determine whether or not I could cover breaking news.

- Lynsey Addario

Gender, News, Cover, Breaking

I think it's important to have perspective and to look at what you don't necessarily want to see.

- Lynsey Addario

Think, Important, See, Perspective

Americans are really lovely people - friendly, kind and willing to help you out.

- Lynsey Addario

Help, Lovely, Kind, Friendly

I think that more often than not, people underestimate me.

- Lynsey Addario

Think, More, I Think, Underestimate

I try not to get caught up in how our society is so inundated with images, and stay very focused on the work that I'm doing.

- Lynsey Addario

Caught, Very, Images, Inundated

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