It's very hard to turn your back once you're aware of what's going on, and you're aware of the injustices, and you're aware of the civilian casualties. It's much easier if you have no idea and you've never seen it.
Lynsey AddarioRead
Obviously I am a photographer and I believe in my medium: I do think that powerful photographs can force change. It doesn't take long to look and be engaged in a strong image whereas, with a story, you have to actually sit down and pause and be involved in it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Powerful photographs can create an immediate impact and inspire change more quickly than written stories.
In this quote, Lynsey Addario emphasizes the unique strength of photography as a medium that can instigate change instantaneously. Unlike written stories that require sustained attention and engagement, a compelling photograph can instantly capture the viewer's emotion and provoke thought, making visual storytelling a potent tool for social change.
Themes
PhotographyChangeArtImpactVisual Storytelling
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, one could highlight this quote to illustrate the power of visual media.
More from Lynsey Addario
All quotes →I do think my childhood is one of the fundamental reasons that I'm able to do my job. We were raised in this totally nonjudgmental family. We never knew who was going to walk in the front door. And as a journalist and a photographer, you walk into so many different scenes that you have to be open to everything.
Lynsey AddarioRead
As a Western woman in the Middle East, I am often put in a different category. I am sort of like the third sex. I am not treated like a man. I am not treated like a woman. I am just treated like a journalist. That is usually really helpful.
Lynsey AddarioRead
My strength is looking for composition and light, and I think those things come in the quieter times of war or photographing people affected on the margins of war - civilians, refugees; that is where I really excel.
Lynsey AddarioRead
Don't expect things to happen fast. Be empathetic with the people you are photographing. Don't be concerned about money.
Lynsey AddarioRead
If people really saw what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, then they might be marching in the streets to end wars. But you know, I think that no one ever sees because we're not allowed to see, and we're not allowed to publish what we do see. So it's quite difficult.
Lynsey AddarioRead
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