Photographing the Reality of War

Lynsey Adario, a photojournalist for The New York Times in Ukraine was last week standing on a Kyiv rooftop to capture images of smoke drifting across the skyline. Then, the siren of an air raid went off.

She moved behind a wall “just so I don’t get blown out with chunks of glass if it does hit,” she said by phone as she took shelter. Despite the threat, she wanted to share her experiences covering the war in an Interview.

Ms. Addario has been in Ukraine for the past two months, documenting the devastation caused by war. She is the photographer behind one of the most recognizable images of the conflict: one that shows four people — a woman, a man and two children — lying on the ground, their suitcases beside them. They were trying to evacuate across a bridge at Irpin, a suburb in Kyiv, when they were hit by Russian mortar fire. (Learn the story behind that photo on a recent episode of “The Daily.”)

Below, Ms. Addario shares her experiences as a war correspondent. This interview was edited.

What do you want to communicate most through your photos of Ukraine?

It’s mostly the reality of war. I often focus on civilians and women and children because for me, those are the victims of war because they’re not participating in the fight, they’re just the innocent victims who end up losing their homes and losing their belongings and losing family members only because of decisions that are made on their behalf. For me, civilians are more interesting than combat.

It’s what I get access to and it’s what I’m drawn to; as a person, as a human being, as a mother, as a woman, as someone who’s been doing this a long time. I think I’ve evolved as a journalist and as a person — I’m not the same as I was 20 years ago. I do look at the work of my colleagues and think, Oh, I really don’t have enough smoke and fire and bombs, and I’m not taking enough risks; I’m not going all the way to the frontline of the Russian positions. I’m constantly, sort of, beating myself up over what I don’t have.

How do you communicate with your subject when photographing chaotic moments of life?

I try to be respectful of others. I always try to ask permission by holding up my camera; if I don’t speak the language, I make eye contact and make sure it’s OK with them. Some people just don’t want to be photographed; they’re too emotional, they’re going through too much. That’s something I understand.

If I have a translator or a partner I’m working with, I always try to ask them to introduce me and explain I’m working with The New York Times and that it’s really important for the international community to see what’s happening.

Do you try contextualizing the moment when you capture images?

Every day, when I map out what I’m going to shoot, I’m trying to think about: Where is the narrative? Where are we in this war now? What should I include? That’s all really important. My job is to be a journalist first, and then a photographer second. I’m trying to tell stories with every picture I take.

I’m mapping out in my head what information needs to go into the photographs, like how to frame the photograph so the reader or the viewer gets a sense of what’s going on. I try to include both information and emotion in the frame. I think it’s important to make evocative pictures, but also pictures that convey a situation and tell a story.

Have any photos you’ve taken in Ukraine changed how you set out to capture the realities of the war?

I’ve been doing this for over 20 years — documenting war, the victims of war and civilian casualties, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Darfur to Yemen to Syria to Libya and Lebanon. Every situation is different. In most cases, a photographer working in conflict zones will hear an explosion and rush to document its aftermath. The difference in Irpin was that I was there for the attack. I was both in shock and survival mode. I had just managed to escape death.

I have to remember what I need to do in those moments. I try to stay focused during these moments. It’s partly instinctual, but it’s also partly that you have to snap back into the present. I have to also remember to be respectful of my subjects, particularly when I’m photographing the dead.

I always try to photograph first, then decide what to edit, how much to edit, and what to publish with my editor. I know psychologically, in that moment, I’m not in the position to be making any editorial decisions because I’m very emotional. But I also think it’s important to take the pictures because you only have a few seconds to do that, often when it’s very dangerous. It’s better to have them and make those decisions later than to just not shoot.