In Part II of Lynsey Addario’s “It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War”, I learned something about the September 11th issue that I had not previously considered. This incident is a lesson frequently taught in middle school history courses, the devastation, the destruction of families, and the formation of community that came from it. It was emotional, real, and enormously pathetic. I sympathized and never questioned the one-sidedness.

The series of chapters of her time spent in the Middle East after the attack was a new perspective. The more she learned, she empathized for the Middle Eastern people and felt dubiousness towards the U.S. army; the sense of justice she gained as she concluded the section. She had to do this to reveal the truth. Her purpose is to educate the American public and pull back the blinders that media authority set on America, thinking raw and truthful information was “too real”, and leave it for the people to decide. This type of resoluteness isn’t something I’ve experienced yet.

My interest in anthropology came from my interest in humans as social creatures. The way we interact now, the way our ancestors acted then, I want to know this and be the bridge that traverses the lingual and cultural barrier much like Addario does when she pursues her photojournalistic instinct. She began this book with danger and intrigue. As the reader, we wanted to know what type of story we’re getting into, why she’s out there, and what would we do in such a serious situation with our lives on the line. She hints at issues that prevail within the story, the difference in treatment between men and women in the field of journalists and photographers; the inability to maintain proper relationships; the danger, the worry, and the urgency to pursue reality. I would like to set my passion blog up like this. To reel in the reader, portray the urgency I feel for this matter and have them develop intrigue in it as well. FInding this balance will be difficult, and I plan to use credible sources to pinpoint the seriousness of self-esteem and -confidence issues in our society. My first blogs will be experiments in aiming for this goal, but I plan to achieve before these blog assignments are over.