Its What I Do paper

 Carsyn Meyers

‘It’s What I Do’ by Lynsey Addario can be labeled as chaotic, intense, dangerous, foolish, but I choose to define it as inspiring. Each chapter could be a book of its own, because of the sheer chaos each page turn brings. It becomes hard to remember what you enjoy about the book because you become so fixated with what’s going to happen next, you don’t have time to stop and think about the fact she was just kidnapped by a terrorist group or she was 30 seconds away from being right beside a car bomb. At the beginning of the book Addario shares a brief story from her childhood. At the age of 1 ½  she was standing on her fathers shoulders in the pool when she suddenly leapt into the water with no fear, her father let her go because he knew she’d be fine. It’s not until after the book you realize that this anecdote isn’t just for her childhood, but her entire life. Every chapter in the book is about a different point in life where Lynsey Addario has taken that dive into the deep end. Each new warzone you go into she has to minimize that critical internal voice that tells you don’t do this. I think an example of this comes when she went into the Korengal Valley with the U.S. Military. Not only did she have the fear of being shot at in any possible moment, but also being out in the wide open the entire time. Yet she persisted and took telling photos that shared the stories of what really happens between the U.S. military and Taliban, but the civilian aspect of war too. 

Lynsey Addario's mission to show the truth of what happens in war zones, specifically the civilian side of conflict, really inspires me. Not an inspiration to go to an active war zone and get shot at, but an inspiration to show the people the truth. Like Lynsey Addario mentioned in the book you have to be a little crazy to want to go to a war with a camera. Lynsey Addario also taught me some valuable lessons in my own photography. One being tries to tell the story through the faces of our subjects. Many of Lynsey’s pictures do a great job of capturing the emotion on a person's face and it makes the photo far more compelling. The photo below I find the most interesting because of the story behind it. These women are out in the desert trying to deliver a baby because their car broke down and the nearest hospital is four hours away. The husband had gone looking for another car when Lynsey drove by and in the end took them to the hospital where they delivered a baby girl. By far the greatest quote in the book is “When I return home and rationally consider the risks, the choices are difficult. But when I am doing my work, I am alive and I am me. It’s what I do. I am sure there are other versions of happiness, but this one is mine.” I feel like this quote truly gives you an idea of what kind of person Lynsey Addario is, and what it really takes to do what she does. Essentially if you’re in it for the money you’re better off just doing advertisement. I would highly recommend this book to people who think they might want to go to places where there is conflict and want to help. I’m not even talking about journalists, but people who want to possibly join organizations like the peace corps. You might be in for a rude awakening when you find out some people might not want you there and especially if you’re a woman how differently you’re treated. I loved this book and think that over the course of decades it will become a novel that will stand the test of time.