"Love + War" by photographer Lynsey Addario: A story about living and working alongside death
Lynsey Addario is one of the most renowned war photojournalists of our time. Her lens captured the lives of soldiers and civilians during the height of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the horrors of violence in Congo and Darfur. In 2009, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her reporting from Pakistan (as part of The New York Times team). In 2011, while working in Libya, Addario and three colleagues were captured by Gaddafi loyalists. On November 7, 2025, the documentary "Love + War"—about the life and work of this remarkable woman—was released on Disney+.
Lynsey Addario was born on November 13, 1973, in Westport, Connecticut. Her parents, Camilla and Phillip Addario, were Italian-American hairdressers. However, their daughter did not follow in their footsteps. In 1995, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later received two honorary doctorates.
In 1996, Addario first tried her hand at photojournalism, moving to Argentina and working for the Buenos Aires Herald newspaper. Having gained experience, she returned to the United States in the late 1990s and became a freelance correspondent for the Associated Press. Just a year later, she was sent to Cuba—her first major assignment abroad.
She handled her mission in Cuba brilliantly, and was soon sent to India. While living in New Delhi, Lynsey traveled regularly on assignments in Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
The journalist focused primarily on humanitarian crises and the plight of women and children. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, repeatedly photographing members of terrorist groups at great personal risk.
In 2003–2004, Addario reported for The New York Times in war-torn Iraq. She then spent several months in Darfur and Chad before returning to the Middle East. In 2009, she was in a serious car accident in Pakistan: she broke her collarbone and suffered multiple bruises; the driver was killed and colleagues were injured.
From March 16 to 21, 2011, Lindsey was held captive in Libya along with three colleagues from The New York Times. In March 2022, while covering the war in Ukraine, she came under mortar fire in Irpin. One of the shells exploded twenty meters away, killing a woman and two children and fatally wounding a volunteer.
The film draws on archival footage, eyewitness accounts, and previously unseen images. It chronicles the professional and personal journey of Lynsey Addario, a photographer who has worked on the major frontlines of the 21st century. As a mother, she returns to war zones time and again, reflecting on courage, duty, and the preservation of humanity amid chaos.
Directed by Oscar-winning duo Matthew Heineman and Rachel Cheyne (Vasarhelyi hadn't previously collaborated with them – editor's note), "Love + War" is the story of an unwavering professional whose camera has survived the most brutal conflicts of our time.
The film is primarily aimed at those interested in the biographies of prominent contemporaries, but will also be of interest to a wider audience thanks to its unique footage from Congo, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and other hot spots—many of which are shown for the first time.
Addario previously wrote about her profession in her autobiography, "This Is What I Do: Love, Life, and War Through the Lens" (2015). The book is written harshly and unvarnished—at times even too casually for the horrors it describes, which makes it particularly powerful. The film "Love + War" complements the book beautifully, featuring over 200 of her photographs.
What do you think: is it worth it for journalists to risk their lives for the sake of the truth, or is there a point beyond which personal safety is more important than any story?