I think it's important to have perspective and to look at what you don't necessarily want to see.

- Lynsey Addario

You have two options when you approach a hostile checkpoint in a war zone, and each is a gamble. The first is to stop and identify yourself as a journalist and hope that you are respected as a neutral observer. The second is to blow past the checkpoint and hope the soldiers guarding it don't open fire on you.

- Lynsey Addario

I didn't want my gender to determine whether or not I could cover breaking news.

- Lynsey Addario

I didn't know a single female photographer who covered conflict who even had a boyfriend, much less a husband or a baby.

- Lynsey Addario

I come from a big family of hairdressers; they didn't read newspapers. I would say, 'I'm off to Afghanistan...' and they would say, 'Have fun!'

- Lynsey Addario

For a journalist who covers the Muslim world, we have responsibilities to be familiar with that culture and to know how to respond to that.

- Lynsey Addario

Don't expect things to happen fast. Be empathetic with the people you are photographing. Don't be concerned about money.

- Lynsey Addario

Americans are really lovely people - friendly, kind and willing to help you out.

- Lynsey Addario

I started freelancing for the Associated Press. I had a great mentor there who sort of taught me everything.

- Lynsey Addario

Photography of any living being, according to Taliban rule, was illegal. So when I went to Afghanistan, immediately I was worried about photographing people. But it was what I wanted: to show what life was like under the Taliban, specifically for women.

- Lynsey Addario

I've worked for over 11 years in the Muslim world, and the one thing that I feel like I've learned - who's to say if it's true or not true, it's just my experience - is that men don't like to see really strong, aggressive women in that area of the world.

- Lynsey Addario

With each assignment, I weigh the looming possibility of being killed, and I chastise myself for allowing fear to hinder me. War photographers aren't supposed to get scared.

- Lynsey Addario

I knew that my interest lied in international stories. I was interested in how women were living under the Taliban, for example.

- Lynsey Addario

I interviewed dozens and dozens of African women who had endured more hardship and trauma than most Westerners even read about, and they ploughed on. I often openly cried during interviews, unable to process this violence and hatred towards women I was witnessing.

- Lynsey Addario

If I'm doing a story on how a single mother copes in a refugee camp, I'll go to her tent; I'll follow her when she's working, see what her daily life is like, and try to pack that into one composition, with nice light, in one frame.

- Lynsey Addario

Every story takes its toll on me and leaves an impression on me.

- Lynsey Addario

Where in the world would I rather be than on the front line of history?

- Lynsey Addario

I think that more often than not, people underestimate me.

- Lynsey Addario

With photography, I always think that it's not good enough.

- Lynsey Addario

It's very hard to turn your back once you're aware of what's going on, and you're aware of the injustices, and you're aware of the civilian casualties. It's much easier if you have no idea and you've never seen it.

- Lynsey Addario