21/02/2023
As we near the first anniversary this Friday of Russia's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, here's my profile in SWAAY of acclaimed war photographer Lynsey Addario Photography Photography on capturing the civilian cost of conflict and the personal toll of her trade.
One of the most accomplished and honored war photographers in the world, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Addario has been crisscrossing the globe on assignments for The New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, and TIME for more than two decades.
Her coverage of the war in Ukraine over the past year for The New York Times and her ceaseless focus on the desperate plight of civilians, along with her fellow war photographers, has prevented world leaders from turning a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis and willed them to acknowledge and respond to the brutality of the Russian invasion.
Addario has covered conflicts in the most violent hotspots including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Darfur, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, and Syria, with more close calls than she'd care to admit.
One of those close calls in Ukraine last March won Addario won a prestigious George Polk Photojournalism award this week for her iconic NY Times image – which is at the heart of my story – of the bodies of a Ukrainian mother, her two children, and a church volunteer felled by artillery fire while trying to flee Ukraine.
“Addario dove for cover as the shell landed and then took the gruesome photo on instinct. Despite qualms over its intrusive nature, she argued for its publication, a view the husband and father of the slain woman and children affirmed after she sought him out,” said the award citation.
I've had three conversations on my podcasts When It Mattered and Techtopia with Addario over the past three years and am always struck by her humility in her craft.
“I always think I am the worst war photographer,” she says, “because I’m not that brave. I’m always concerned with trying to stay alive.”
As the war on Ukraine hits its first anniversary this week, Lynsey Addario reflects on the personal toll of her trade