Addario’s book speaks of her life as a photographer, but the power of her photos within her book is really what made me look forward to the following section. Picking two favorite photos is really challenging as they all speak for themselves in their own beauty and artistic thought, but two in particular spurred ideas for my own passion blog.
The photo displaying young Afghan men publicly listening to music for the first time since the fall of the Taliban is a really strong photograph. I love how this photo shows change, positive change that’s going on in the country. Most of the photos in the book focus on exposing problems within each nation Addario travels to, but in this case, she uses her lens to show howthe world around her is altering in a positive light. I feel this is an important thing to consider when picking photos for my blog. Using photos to show reform is as important as writing about it. Having readers visually see change in front of them is very powerful as they too may understand how they can help catalyze even greater change to come.
Another photo I really enjoyed was Addario walking down the aisle at her wedding, smiling with her husband Paul. A large portion of her book discusses her personal life, and I think adding those emotional pictures from her special day makes her more relatable to the reader. The pictures create more of a window into her life that the words themselves may not be able to convey. In this photo, she is able to convey her own happiness at a time where she was struggling physically and emotionally. After seeing her wedding photos, I think adding personal anecdotes and photos illustrating my own life may be increasingly valuable to my credibility as the writer and understanding to the reader. The use of the photos may better contrast the life of a girl from Long Island, to those who live several time zones away.