Lynsey Addario

Lynsey Addario is our guest on 8 February. Rosan Hollak will interview her (in English) about her memoir Dit is wat ik doe: fotograferen in tijden van liefde en oorlog (What I Do: Photography in Times of Love and War).

When the attacks of 11 September 2001 took place, Lynsey Addario was one of the few photojournalists who had previously been in Afghanistan. When she was therefore asked to return and report on the American invasion, she did not hesitate for a moment and set off with her camera.

Dit is wat ik doe offers a powerful and compelling portrayal of life at the front lines and stands as a testimony to the cost of war.

As a female photojournalist, Addario is determined to be taken just as seriously as her male colleagues. She fights her way into this male-dominated profession and gains worldwide recognition: she receives a MacArthur Genius Grant and a Pulitzer Prize. She puts her love life and family life on hold in order to accept all the assignments she considers important. At the same time, the sorrow and injustice she encounters as a war correspondent give her a new perspective on her own life, and the more she sees of the world, the greater her longing becomes for love and a family.

Dit is wat ik doe is therefore also the story of how Addario met her husband and the father of her child, and how she learned—as a war correspondent and a mother—to live in two separate but closely intertwined worlds.

“Addario has written an extremely gripping memoir about her war reporting and about why and how she ended up in such a dangerous profession—and stayed there.” – Booklist

“A very courageous memoir. Addario’s book, filled with photographs from her travels, offers insight into international events and the challenges faced by journalists who try to capture them.” – Washington Post

Dit is wat ik doe: fotograferen in tijden van liefde en oorlog will be published at the end of January by De Arbeiderspers. The book was translated by Wim Scherpenisse.

After the interview there will be an opportunity to purchase the book and have it signed at the book table of our regular bookseller Van Stockum.

Date: Monday 8 February
Start time: 20.00
Location: Humanity House, Prinsegracht 8, The Hague
Tickets: SOLD OUT