Sight Unseen – Lynsey Addario

Radiolab about a photographer who went to Afghanistan

Lynsey Addario covered war for 15 years
Kidnapped twice
December 2009 – Time magazine in Helmand Province
Helicopter pilots
Alpha (most gravely wounded – life or death)
Two minute flight – fast
Shooting the fields and was lent night vision goggles
Put them over the camera lens to see what is below
Landed and saw a man wrapped in a blanket
First though – was completely dead
‘So young’ thought ‘God what are we doing here?’
Photographs who thing
When landed immediate help and operating
In minuted it goes from 5-6 people in room to dozen/twentie people as they know it is an Alpha and so are there for support
Room is silent
Soldier had lost about 8/9 pints of blood
Addario ‘tries to be invisible’ as it is ‘so sensitive to be a photographer’ in those cases
Shoots one frame, then another frame as the shutter is so loud
After 5 mins of photographing an officer comes over and says ‘stop photographing’
Though Addario has permission
Room was full of people that didn’t know why she was there or who she way
When she stopped a few people in the room said ‘No, let her shoot,she has to keep documenting’
Took pictures of doctors massaging the mans heart
Doctor asked ‘Does anyone have any other ideas on how to save him?’
They searched for a flag to drape over his body after he died
After the body was covered everyone stood in silence in player and own thoughts

‘I’m sure all those troops were like “God that could have been me, why couldn’t we save him?”‘
A problem – any pictures of the soldier’s face and distinctive marks such as tattoos – in order to publish she needed the soldier’s permission
Minutes after it all Military PO told her she cannot publish images without permission of next of kin
‘In Vietnam no one had to sign to publish imagery’ – did this stop the support of Vietnam war?
Wanted to be contacted by next of kin
Less than a week later she had a voicemail from soldier’s father (Todd Taylor)
He asked to meet – Addario welled up just hearing his voice and knowing how hard the conversation will be
Family live near a navel base, Todd is ex-military
Two sisters, a stepsister and a step-mum
Dec 1st 2009 – day they found out he died
The description of the death was scant and brief
The call to Addario
– She told him she was with his son when he died
– She told him she’ll give him as much or little information as he wanted
– He wanted to know it all
– Did he suffer? No, he was in shock
– How much blood he lost and the amount of time spent operating on them
– He asked to see the imagery first
– Needed to ask Time before showing the father
– Ordinarily would say no as he can revoke permission on publishing imagery
– A series of conversations that went to the head of Time and a collective decision to show the father
– VERY uncommon circumstance to show him
– Graphic imagery
– The Prayer image, father picked it out
– For him it is about people seeing the truth of war
– He said no to showing the pictures of his son
– Reason being is the sisters, he didn’t want his daughters to see their brother in this way
– Time had planned to show and have an article about the soldier, instead it became about the rescue team
– Todd had seen original spread, called 29 Minutes – all before pictures that lead up to the prayer
– ‘We did not tell the story as powerfully as we could have’ – Addario
– 3 daughters can see images of their brothers when they turn 21, two oldest do not want to see their brothers, but Lauren the youngest wants to so she has closure and doesn’t want things kept from her – so it feels real

My thoughts:
I feel that in all cases the way the images were displayed and the way they changed the narrative was for the best. Yes the imagery may have helped people to see the truth in war as it did in relation to the Vietnam war, but I feel in terms of people, emotions and family it would cause more damage than good. Back when the Vietnam war happened the only way you could see the photographs taken of the harrowing sights there would be to pick up a newspaper, in today’s society and with the ever growing popularity in social media, online newspapers and versatility to see these items (on phones, tablets, computers etc) it is hard to get away from the media. This means that should imagery like this have been published, within seconds it would be on the internet, therefore able to be shared, sent and viewed directly by anyone online. It can be very upsetting to those who do not wish to see it and especially for families that (like in the case of Johnathan’s two older sisters) wish to remember their lost one as how they were, not seeing what happened to them wherever they look.
Overall the narrative, in my mind, still works and has a lot of impact showing those working hard every day to try and save the lives of fallen soldiers, it shows the respect and honour they have for fellow servicemen and women.
This image below, in my opinion, must really how the toll it takes on one human watching another one die in a horrific manner. The image is blurred all around, but the flag on the coffin is the most in focus object and also the brightest. I can imagine that the reason the image is so distorted is because the photographer (Addario) was exhausted from the rescue mission, the attempt to save a life and then the realisation the soldier they tried so hard to help, died. This image shows the exhaustion, it almost feels like you are there, as if your eyes cannot ficus on what is around you. To me this is the second most powerful image in the photo essay. If coupled with the previous image of The Prayer, they both bring the reality of war to you without needing any words