Photojournalist research - Judah Maxwell

Lynsey Addario

Born: November 3rd, 1973 (46 years old)

She focuses most of her work on conflicts and human rights issues as well as the role women play in traditional societies. 

Looking at her pictures the main thing I see is a great use of color. Her photography technique really focuses on one color, bringing a certain emotion with it. I think you'll see what I'm talking about when you look at the photos (below).

Lynsey Addario started working for Buenos Aires Herald (Argentina) in 1996 with no previous photography knowledge. In the late 90's she moved back to the states and worked for the Associated Press in New York only to move back to South America less than a year later.

Her main cameras are the Nikon D850, Nikon D5, and Nikon D810. Her favorite being the Nikon D810. Her three most used lenses are the AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.4 E ED, the AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4G, and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8 ED.

I couldn't find anything clearly stating what lighting she did/didn't use. However, from looking at her photos you can see that in some of her action shots she used natural lighting with no additional light source. However in some of her portraits I can see that she used stage lighting with diffused light.

Nothing stated what her early influencers were. She started working for Buenos Aires Herald with no previous photography knowledge. From reading about her I could see a major influence being nature. As well as the struggles people are facing in this world and wanting to share it with the public. 

On March 16, 2011 her and 3 other photojournalists were taken captive in Libya. On March 18, the New York Times wrote that Libya agreed to free her and her colleagues. Finally on March 21, they were released. After the fact Addario claimed that during captivity she was repeatedly threatened with death and groping by the Libyan army. 

'Of love & war', Penguin Press - Lynsey Addario

I really like her use of color in her photos, it adds a lot of emotion to them. There are a couple of pictures where she uses complementary colors, however, for the most part she uses monochromatic colors, meaning one color, but many different shades of that color. I enjoy that choice because I feel that it ties the image together making it seem like a complete image. Having one color also makes the image pleasing to the eye. I also like her use of depth to bring out the subject. The background, in most of her photos, is clean and simple which really makes the subject pop, another characteristic that makes her photos easy on the eye and enjoyable to look at. 

I chose her because in my previous research papers I have chosen older men. Their photos were in black and white and taken a long time ago. I wanted to see a different style of photography so I chose the opposite of an old man, a young woman. I was interested in what differences the two would bring. I was also reading about her stories and they were very moving and something I actually became interested in, so I wrote a paper on her.

Her photos, out of all the other photographers I've researched, have been my favorite to look at by far. Her style of photography resonates with me. I know I keep bringing this up, but I think it's her choice of colors that really grabs my attention. Between the colors and the incredible lighting, her photos catch my attention and suck me in. Some of her photos have a unique editing technique to them. It's almost a dream-like edit. You can see it in the photo in the woods, and of the army men running (in photos above). Both of those have a dream like appearance to them. Overall, she has been my favorite photographer/photojournalist to research. From her stories to her photos, all of it really amazes me.