A brutally real and unrelentingly raw memoir.--Kirkus (starred review)War photographer Lynsey Addariorsquo;s memoir Itrsquo;s What I Do is the story of how the relentless pursuit of truth; in virtually every major theater of war in the twenty-first century; has shaped her life. What she does; with clarity; beauty; and candor; is to document; often in their most extreme moments; the complex lives of others. Itrsquo;s her work; but itrsquo;s much more than that: itrsquo;s her singular calling.Lynsey Addario was just finding her way as a young photographer when September 11 changed the world. One of the few photojournalists with experience in Afghanistan; she gets the call to return and cover the American invasion. She makes a decision she would often find herself makingmdash;not to stay home; not to lead a quiet or predictable life; but to set out across the world; face the chaos of crisis; and make a name for herself.Addario finds a way to travel with a purpose. She photographs the Afghan people before and after the Taliban reign; the civilian casualties and misunderstood insurgents of the Iraq War; as well as the burned villages and countless dead in Darfur. She exposes a culture of violence against women in the Congo and tells the riveting story of her headline-making kidnapping by pro-Qaddafi forces in the Libyan civil war.Addario takes bravery for granted but she is not fearless. She uses her fear and it creates empathy; it is that feeling; that empathy; that is essential to her work. We see this clearly on display as she interviews rape victims in the Congo; or photographs a fallen soldier with whom she had been embedded in Iraq; or documents the tragic lives of starving Somali children. Lynsey takes us there and we begin to understand how getting to the hard truth trumps fear.As a woman photojournalist determined to be taken as seriously as her male peers; Addario fights her way into a boysrsquo; club of a profession. Rather than choose between her personal life and her career; Addario learns to strike a necessary balance. In the man who will become her husband; she finds at last a real love to complement her work; not take away from it; and as a new mother; she gains an all the more intensely personal understanding of the fragility of life.Watching uprisings unfold and people fight to the death for their freedom; Addario understands she is documenting not only news but also the fate of society. Itrsquo;s What I Do is more than just a snapshot of life on the front lines; it is witness to the human cost of war.
#3374606 in eBooks 2014-06-12 2014-06-12File Name: B00L7DEMI0
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Good observations about dance in Senegal and its relation to the WestBy faringtonLike the author; I saw the National Ballet of Senegal perform in 1995 and again at the Irvine Barclay Theater in 1998. In between; I traveled to Senegal to study with musicians of the Ballet; but my stay was not as long-term or in-depth as that of the author. This book provided a lot of details about the historical and social context of the Ballet; and Senegalese dance in general; that really supplemented the knowledge I got from my time over there. There are good discussions about the relationship between the Ballet and traditional dance; about the contrast between professional groups like the Ballet and "street" dance like sabar gatherings; about the interface between Senegalese performers and Western audiences; and about the role of Senegalese dance in establishing African cultural identity. Interestingly; she concludes that continued adherence to the ideas of Senghor; who established the Ballet; would be counterproductive to the development and vitality of Senegalese dance and culture in general.The book is generally well-written and engaging; particularly when the author is describing her field research; but I found it tough to stay interested through a lot of the anthropological/sociological/enthnographic jargon-filled discussions. It often seemed to be an exercise in stuffing simple notions into technical categories to be plugged into some over-arching conceptual machinery--rather than just discussing the matter at hand. For instance; when Bouly Sonko; director of the Ballet; describes how his passion for dance developed in his youth; saying it was like a "virus" that just took him over; the author finds this "quite telling"; saying that "the biomedical conceptualization of disease contrasts with indigenous conceptualizations; which tend to stress the somatic element in any sickness and the links between the physical body and the social body." This seems to overwork what is a fairly innocent remark made by Mr. Sonko.And Im not sure what the chapter "Tales of Betrayal" adds to the discussion. The authors explanation doesnt help: "These Tales of Betrayal are configured as the staging of a series of antagonisms intending to rupture essentialist assumptions of gender."Well; for all I know the author may be making contributions to ethnography and anthropology that are missed on me but appreciated by professionals in the field. In any event; interest in African dance seems to have continued to grow in the U.S.; and this book would be of value to anyone interested in African music; dance; and culture in general.
