--Tell what you think of the book.
--What has impressed you?
--What do you think of Addario's work?
--What lessons can you apply in Photojournalism?
--What's your favorite quote (copy and paste it!) and why?
--What's your favorite photo, describe it, and explain why?
After hearing that a photojournalism class was assigned to read a book written by a photojournalist, my first expectation was that It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario was going to be a cliche, feel-good, enlightening story on her fame to be a photographer. To an extent, my original suspicions had been proved correct. However, the book goes into detail about the discomfort Adderio puts herself into by the career she chooses. She shares doubtful thoughts and signs of concern that she might be missing out on a part of her life by focusing on her career rather than finding a partner, building a family, and settling down with comfort and stability much like her friends and sisters. Sharing the same ambition and clear vision for my future with little interest in the traditional American lifestyle, I also share the same thoughts of concerns. I, like Addario am worried I might be putting my life on hold to pursue a career. Those thoughts are quickly washed away by remembering I'm ultimately not putting my life on hold for a future, but just pursuing a future that is my own and not the future I am expected to have. My future just looks a little different than other peoples. I don't expect myself to settle down or raise children because thats just not what is pushing me to pursue life further, and thats okay.
Another aspect of the book that I took particular interest in the photo tips she learned from her teacher. How to use the frame, the best kind of sunlight and how to use it to your advantage, wait for your subject to feel comfortable in front of a lense. As someone who is completely aware of how to use a camera, I also took these notes and hope to apply them to my skills.
"I was was fascinated by the science of the camera, the way the light and the shutter could freeze a moment in time." (Addario pg.__) This quote made me physically look up from the chapter and consider it's words. To me, time is an eternal ray of never-ending and an unforgiving forward motion. It never stops, speeds up, slows down, rewinds, or fast forwards. People will be hopelessly stuck in the past they forget how to be in the present, or so focused on the future they forget to enjoy the moments they are given. I believe what makes a person is heartbreak, is trauma, is love, is dedication, is passion, is failure, are relationships. I believe that more than anything people just want to be still in the moments in time that make them feel good inside. It is important to remember the good and the bad. To remember failures and how you pushed through them. It is important to have the ability to look back on something and rethink "Hm. Maybe that wasn't such a good time," or "That was actually a really good time in my life." However, no matter how much we refuse to believe it, the human memory is an incredibly unreliable tool to do so. Memories get fuzzy, and people shape their memories to romanticize (in a positive or negative manner) each significant time in their life. Taking a photo by this man-made object or "freezing a moment in time" cannot stop the inevitable persistence of time, but it can encapsulate a memory, thought, feeling, or expression to share with history. It takes that ONE SECOND in the eternity of time to feed the human thirst for remembrance. That quote shifted my outlook on photography and photojournalism and gave me a new outlook altogether.
My favorite photo of hers that I looked through was the "Indian men bathing on the streets of Calcutta". There is no posing, no false smiles, its all brutally authentic. The people in the photo completely disregard Addario as she is not even there. I also think she flawlessly captured the water and the lighting through the water. It exposes a lifestyle the majority of America is unfamiliar with and hopefully addresses the privilege we do have in our own home.
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