The two photos that struck me the most were of Kahindo and her children (13th photo after page 210) and of the American soldiers carrying their comrade in a body bag (18th photo after page 210). I think that Addario’s photos are composed like works of art, and that’s what makes them so captivating. In the picture of Kahindo, Addario brilliantly uses lighting and the negative space to create movement across the photograph and draw your eyes to Kahindo’s illuminated face. Her composition, lighting, and use of color in the soldier photograph is amazing, too. What really strikes me about these photographs is the story they convey without words. Kahindo’s photograph shows her and her children, shrouded in the darkness, gazing at the light- light that could represent the hope that they have for life after the escape. Similarly, the photograph of the soldiers conveys the feelings of the scene- the soldiers’ heads are hung low as they carry an at-first inconspicuous bag through a green haze. When you look at that photograph, you feel the emotional weight of having to carry a dead comrade, but also the cognitive dissonance of that very action being a common occurrence on the war front. It’s amazing what she can make you feel and know, even if you hadn’t read the scenes the photos portrayed.
In my own blog, I have some great opportunities to use photographs. So far, I’ve used them to educate, but in the future I could use media to convey what my feelings of excitement and inspire that in others through astrophotography. There is something so wondrous about seeing a planet or a galaxy through a telescope, and words often can’t do the sight justice. When people think of space they think of Hubble images or those from satellites, but often don’t know what space looks like from Earth. When they find out, they are often pleasantly surprised. I once showed a friend a picture I took of Saturn through a telescope and he said, “Oh my god, that’s amazing! I didn’t know you could see the rings!” I would hope that in including some astrophotography, I can inspire a few people to feel what I felt looking through the telescope and possibly seek out a similar experience for themselves.