In ‘Love + War,’ Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer Lynsey Addario Gets Candid About Risking Her Life, Being a Mom and Not Having It All
Being an ambitious working woman with children comes with plenty of challenges. But being a female war photographer with children is a Herculean effort that Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chincapture in their documentary “Love + War.”
The National Geographic film chronicles Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lynsey Addario’s ascent in the male-dominated world of conflict photography. The 96-minute doc, which premieres at TIFF on Sunday, juxtaposes Addario’s real-time camera work on the ground in Ukraine with her home life in London, where she is raising two young sons with her husband, former journalist, Paul de Bendern.
“Love + War” begins in Ukraine. Addario was there when Russia invaded the country. After narrowly avoiding a missile strike, Addario takes a photo of a family killed by Russian mortar fire as they tried to flee the country. That image appeared on the front page of The New York Times and garnered international attention.
Days later, Addario is in London attempting to adjust to domestic life while on deadline. Addario’s husband asks her to read a bedtime story to their young son. Exhausted from her multi-week, taxing Ukraine trip, Addario says, “Kids are so much harder than war.”
Addario has photographed nearly every major conflict and humanitarian crisis of the last 20 years. She has captured powerful images from war zones and areas of unrest across the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. In addition to witnessing innumerable atrocities, she has lost friends and colleagues like “Restrepo” director Tim Hetherington and has been kidnapped twice.
“People do this because they believe in the freedom of the press, the need to document what’s happening in war zones, and the need to make the public aware of injustices,” Addario says. “People can so easily dismiss things they don’t want to believe as “fake news,” and part of our job is to say, “It’s not fake — I was there.”
While her job and the risks she encounters are more extreme than most, “Love + War” reveals how Addario, like many women, struggles to balance ambition, responsibility and identity.
Variety spoke with Addario and Vasarhelyi ahead of “Love + War” TIFF debut.
Addario: I’ve been approached a fair amount since (I was) kidnapped in Libya (in 2011) to either be part of a larger documentary on war photographers or to be part of a series. I think I hesitated for various reasons. One, it felt very narcissistic. Then I kept seeing movies, both fictional and documentaries, being made on war photographers, and they were often focused on men. At some point, I felt like it was important to have a woman in that role so that younger women and people in general can see that women also do this.
Vasarhelyi: I wanted to make a film that was true to Lynsey and that could both honor the extraordinary work that she has done over a long career as well as examine the life experiences that inform that point of view. There was definitely a very strong awareness of the gender stereotypes at play, and the challenges that gender traditionally has presented across many different careers, but especially in what has traditionally been a male-dominated field, and also the judgment that goes around that, too. We were also really trying to be mindful and considerate of the life experience of being in that position.
Addario: That question about adrenaline annoys the hell out of me, because I think it really minimizes what we do as war correspondents and as journalists who are putting ourselves out there for a much bigger purpose. When I was younger and I first started documenting, for example, the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, or the invasion of Iraq, I started realizing how fundamental the role of journalists arein those situations. It’s a huge responsibility. Suddenly, I realized that it is an incredible privilege. It’s alsosomething that, as long as I have the ability to do this work, I can’t imagine doing anything else with a similar weight and meaning.
Vasarhelyi: We asked him several times, but we respected his decision not to participate.
Addario: It is extremely difficult for me to watch the film. I think because watching it for me is like watching the fallout of my entire life on all the people I love. I’m just sort of overwhelmed with guilt, and I’m tormented, as I am daily, just because of this personal struggle between these two loves in my life. The scenes with my children and my husband are hard. I can probably watch 20 minutes and have to leave because I’m sobbing. I think that is a testament to the honesty of the film, and that’s what I wanted. I did not want a pretty picture. I did not want something that was unrealistic. We don’t need one more movie about a war photographer walking through fire, who is invincible. It’s important to show how difficult this life is, and while it’s selfless in the work we do, it is very selfish in the impact it has on all the people we love.
Addario: I would add a caveat to that and just say, if you have a supportive partner or if you have someone who will help with that, then it is possible. It’s not pretty, and it’s not easy. Getting that balance is pretty much unobtainable. But I do think that with a supportive partner, it’s possible.
Wath an exclusive clip below from “Love + War”:
The National Geographic film chronicles Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lynsey Addario’s ascent in the male-dominated world of conflict photography. The 96-minute doc, which premieres at TIFF on Sunday, juxtaposes Addario’s real-time camera work on the ground in Ukraine with her home life in London, where she is raising two young sons with her husband, former journalist, Paul de Bendern.
“Love + War” begins in Ukraine. Addario was there when Russia invaded the country. After narrowly avoiding a missile strike, Addario takes a photo of a family killed by Russian mortar fire as they tried to flee the country. That image appeared on the front page of The New York Times and garnered international attention.
Days later, Addario is in London attempting to adjust to domestic life while on deadline. Addario’s husband asks her to read a bedtime story to their young son. Exhausted from her multi-week, taxing Ukraine trip, Addario says, “Kids are so much harder than war.”
Addario has photographed nearly every major conflict and humanitarian crisis of the last 20 years. She has captured powerful images from war zones and areas of unrest across the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. In addition to witnessing innumerable atrocities, she has lost friends and colleagues like “Restrepo” director Tim Hetherington and has been kidnapped twice.
“People do this because they believe in the freedom of the press, the need to document what’s happening in war zones, and the need to make the public aware of injustices,” Addario says. “People can so easily dismiss things they don’t want to believe as “fake news,” and part of our job is to say, “It’s not fake — I was there.”
While her job and the risks she encounters are more extreme than most, “Love + War” reveals how Addario, like many women, struggles to balance ambition, responsibility and identity.
Variety spoke with Addario and Vasarhelyi ahead of “Love + War” TIFF debut.
Addario: I’ve been approached a fair amount since (I was) kidnapped in Libya (in 2011) to either be part of a larger documentary on war photographers or to be part of a series. I think I hesitated for various reasons. One, it felt very narcissistic. Then I kept seeing movies, both fictional and documentaries, being made on war photographers, and they were often focused on men. At some point, I felt like it was important to have a woman in that role so that younger women and people in general can see that women also do this.
Vasarhelyi: I wanted to make a film that was true to Lynsey and that could both honor the extraordinary work that she has done over a long career as well as examine the life experiences that inform that point of view. There was definitely a very strong awareness of the gender stereotypes at play, and the challenges that gender traditionally has presented across many different careers, but especially in what has traditionally been a male-dominated field, and also the judgment that goes around that, too. We were also really trying to be mindful and considerate of the life experience of being in that position.
Addario: That question about adrenaline annoys the hell out of me, because I think it really minimizes what we do as war correspondents and as journalists who are putting ourselves out there for a much bigger purpose. When I was younger and I first started documenting, for example, the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, or the invasion of Iraq, I started realizing how fundamental the role of journalists arein those situations. It’s a huge responsibility. Suddenly, I realized that it is an incredible privilege. It’s alsosomething that, as long as I have the ability to do this work, I can’t imagine doing anything else with a similar weight and meaning.
Vasarhelyi: We asked him several times, but we respected his decision not to participate.
Addario: It is extremely difficult for me to watch the film. I think because watching it for me is like watching the fallout of my entire life on all the people I love. I’m just sort of overwhelmed with guilt, and I’m tormented, as I am daily, just because of this personal struggle between these two loves in my life. The scenes with my children and my husband are hard. I can probably watch 20 minutes and have to leave because I’m sobbing. I think that is a testament to the honesty of the film, and that’s what I wanted. I did not want a pretty picture. I did not want something that was unrealistic. We don’t need one more movie about a war photographer walking through fire, who is invincible. It’s important to show how difficult this life is, and while it’s selfless in the work we do, it is very selfish in the impact it has on all the people we love.
Addario: I would add a caveat to that and just say, if you have a supportive partner or if you have someone who will help with that, then it is possible. It’s not pretty, and it’s not easy. Getting that balance is pretty much unobtainable. But I do think that with a supportive partner, it’s possible.
Wath an exclusive clip below from “Love + War”: