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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the obscured reality of war and the public's ignorance about it.
Lynsey Addario highlights the disconnect between the actual events occurring in war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan and the perception of these events by the general public. She suggests that this disconnection stems from a lack of transparency and access to information, implying that if people were fully aware of the truth, there would be greater public outcry and resistance to war.
Themes
WarTruthIgnoranceTransparencyPublic Consciousness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the impact of media censorship on public awareness of war.
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
Look, I would say that anyone who does this work and doesn't have a strain of idealism is an adrenaline junkie or completely narcissistic. There is no other justification. You're risking your life, and if anything happens, it's our families who suffer tremendously.
Lynsey AddarioRead
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