One conflict that Lyndsey Addario addresses in her book “It’s What I do is” is that she is making money off of those whom she is photographing’s misery.  She addresses this issue by saying;

“I was conflicted about making money from images of people who were so desperate, but I thought of all the years I had struggled to make ends meet to be a photographer, and I knew that any money I made from these photos would be invested right back into my work.  Trying to convey beauty in war was a technique to try to prevent the reader from looking away or turning the page in response to something horrible. I wanted them to linger, to ask questions”

With this passage Addario describes what she feels conflicted about, but also talks about her reasoning for dismissing her guilt.  She knew that she would be profiting from these people’s pain, but she relates it to all of her hard work that it took to get to this point, and how she would use the money to bring more people’s attentions to the struggles of people during wartime.  I think Addario does this not only as a justification, but also as a way to make the reader feel more connected.  We’ve all gone through some sort of struggle which has driven us to where we are today.  Hopefully we can use this struggle in order to help others, like Addario is trying to do by capturing something so horrifically beautiful.

While not as dramatic as Addario’s conflict, I have never been so far away from home for an extended period of time without knowing many people.  I know that this is a common thing for many new students, and I hope to be able to give them a sense of ease while reading my blog by letting them know where they can go to get the best meals.