Week 8 Blogpost

Lynsey Addario Chapters 7-13

Chapter 9 of "It's What I Do" by Lynsey Addario was undoubtedly the most powerful one I came across. In this section, Addario is embedded with the 117th Airborne Division in the Kornegal Valley with a former colleague, Elizabeth. Desert Storm and Desert Shield were the first US Military operations that allowed total embed for journalists in war zones, and Addario was taking advantage of the opportunity by staying for a historically long time in one of the hottest zones in the world.

Elizabeth is pregnant at the time, and the piece really elucidates the disadvantages of being a woman in this line of work. The most emotional events and images come from the portion of the chapter when the Taliban ambushes the unit, and they take casualties. An American Solider dubbed Staff Sergeant "Wildcat" Larry Rougle is killed, and others are wounded. Addario's pictures are displayed after the literary depiction of the scene, which makes them all the more jarring. It is one of the few times in the book where and event is described and then a name is immediately put to a face and emotion to a sequence of events. The description of Rougle was extremely personal and heart-wrenching:

The KIA. The. Killed. In. Action. Fuck. "Wildcat-- Rougle-- had been hit, and he was still missing. Rougle, who had just been telling Elizabeth and me that he was going to propose to his girlfriend when he went home on leave, who had survived almost six tours since September 11, 2001.

Members of the 173rd carry the body of their comrade Staff Sergeant Larry Rougle

I felt that this image was most powerful, because it gave texture and context that came just after Addario's best descriptive writing. It was the moment I felt most acutely when reading the entire book.

This chapter was an education in the trials of being a photojournalist on an emotional and physical level. The trials that Lynsey and Elizabeth faced were daunting to say the least, but their commitment and fortitude were truly inspiring. It is easy to forget that if you're going to photograph professionals in their field, you have to have the mental and physical dexterity to keep up.