Saturday, March 7, 2015

Lynsey Addario

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The many and often misguided solicitations from publicists were the subject of recent survey of bloggers in which I participated. People declaring themselves to be fans of Atlanta Street Fashion have offered their 'free content' for publication here or dresses for me to keep after modeling them for my readers. Who pays for such sloppy pr?

Perhaps the happy result of sharing my opinion has arrived in the form of a review copy of "It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life Of Love And War" by Lynsey Addario. This daughter of Westport, Connecticut hairdressers has shared a Pulitzer Prize with her New York Times colleagues and been named a MacArthur Fellow for risking both life and sanity in war zones. As the Atlanta LadyFest approaches, such herstory in a macho field is worth examining, even in a fashion blog.

Witnessing the cruelties that human beings inflict upon their own kind requires extraordinary fortitude backed by the belief that reporting those inhumanities will influence world leadership for the greater good. A survivor of kidnappings in Iraq and Libya, Addario continued to work, even while pregnant, when she visited a Mogadishu hospital filled with refugee women and children, many of them dying.

Driven she is but not without conflicts all her own. From the failure of long distance romance to being groped by a mob in a street riot, Addario well knows the double standards that world imposes upon women. Her willingness to take risks in pursuit of truth at times has been unwelcome in both the East and West. May she have the last word.

As a war correspondent and a mother, I've learned to live in two different realities. It's not always easy to make the transition from a beautiful London park filled with children to a war zone, but it's my choice. I chose to live in peace and witness war—to experience the worst in people but to remember the beauty.

www.lynseyaddario.com

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