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Lesson 2: Assignment
Inspiration – Lynsey Addario
By Charity Miles[attachment=2:lyrx7sb2]Lynsey Addario-basra, iraq.jpg[/attachment:lyrx7sb2]
BASRA, IRAQ. An Iraqi woman walks through a plume of smoke rising from a massive fire at a liquid gas factory as she searches for her husband in the vicinity of the fire in Basra, Iraq, May 26, 2003. The fire was allegedly started by looters picking through the factory, and residents in the vicinity feared the explosion of the four liquid gas tanks on the premises. Weeks after the end of the war, looting continues to be one of the main problems for both Basra and Bagdad cities as coalition forces struggle to get life back to normal.
[attachment=1:lyrx7sb2]Lynsey Addario-tama, south darfur.jpg[/attachment:lyrx7sb2]
TAMA, SOUTH DARFUR. African Union soldiers find the village of Tama freshly burning more than a week after it was originally attacked by Arab Nomads backed by government forces North of Nyala, November 2005. The AU made several attempts at patrolling and conducting an investigation on the village of Tama after it was attacked, and the surviving villagers fled to a nearby village, and was kept away by nomads who continued to surround the village and shoot at approaching vehicles. Hundreds of villages have been burned and pillaged throughout Darfur by Arab Nomads, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced throughout the country.
Photographs tell the story that the mind cannot put into words. It is the words that span continents and explain history with just one glance. My inspiration is Lynsey Addario. She is a photojournalist based in Istanbul, Turkey, where she photographs for National Geographic, The New York Times, The NYT Magazine, Time, and Fortune, among others.
She has been fascinated by revolution, fights for freedom and how far people would go to be free. Through her extraordinary storytelling and photography she weaves the tale, more than words can say. More inspiring is her driving force to be on the front lines with nothing but her camera. In lands where women are raped if they are outside the refugee camps, she goes, with her camera. Often I ask the question, “what makes them a great photographer” in her case it is the power that moves you when you look at her work. She has the excellence of a National Geographic photographer, the feeling of a human being the gumption to go where only those with a death wish would roam.
Covering events from human rights, immigration, social features, as well as the international features including women’s education since the fall of the Taliban. In 2004, she also began her coverage of the ongoing conflict in Darfur, where she continues to work today, covering Sudanese refugee camps in Chad and burnt-out, abandoned villages in Darfur, documenting internally displaced people and the rebel groups in Darfur.
Her heart shows through her photographs. She is a self-taught photographer that is not much older than myself. She makes my dream doable, believable. She brings the war to the American dinner table. When we are going our merry way, forgetting the poor and downtrodden, she brings us back to reality. Not in a sharp harsh way, but with beauty, color and understanding.
The photograph of the woman leaning into the wind, moved me because it shows her adversity. The pain of the sand on her face, the smoke in the air, the rubble around, not pretty park benches and things we would see in our daily walks. We don’t have to search through the rubble of an old factory for our dead husband, we have fire departments, search and rescue and a host of other government agencies that are more than willing to do the job. This reminds us that when we rely to heavily on governments they crumble, we are then forced to do it on our own, in solitude. Just like the photo displays. We are only a rubble pile away from this reality.
The second photograph is vivid in its imagery. The colors are vibrant and at first glance you may not even see that the village is on fire, just a twinge of smoke in the sky. Again, we may hear about a fire across town, but have we ever been run out of our homes at gunpoint? Forced to leave everything behind. Valuing only our families because they are all we have. I believe in our western culture we have lost something in our search for materialism. It is brought out in times of great trial. The closeness of those we love and our deep-rooted faith in what we believe in. This is what truly demonstrates to us who we really are.
[attachment=2:lyrx7sb2]Lynsey Addario-basra, iraq.jpg[/attachment:lyrx7sb2]
This is a very passionate write up. Unfortunately we can’t see any of the pictures. It would be greatly appreciated if you could provide links or upload the images so we can see your references.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Hi Charity.
In fact with this assignment, there is not right or wrong. It’s just an opportunity for you to share your thoughts and visual inspiration with other students. Therefore there is no feedback.
Thank you for sharing this with us though. It is truly inspirational work you’ve included in the post!
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