Lynsey Addario: Love+War
Pulitzer Prize–winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario has repeatedly put her life on the line to document the brutal truths of war — from the Middle East and Afghanistan to Ukraine. Produced by National Geographic Documentary Films alongside Academy Award® winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, Love+War traces Addario’s rise within the male-dominated field of conflict photography. Yet the risks are immense: she has been abducted twice while on assignment in war zones, a heavy price she must confront every time she leaves behind her husband and two young sons. Behind the lens, Addario struggles to reconcile her unshakable devotion to journalism with the equally profound pull of motherhood, facing the question of what it truly means to pursue a vocation when it endangers everything dearest to you.
About the Authors
Lynsey Addario is an American photojournalist who has spent more than two decades documenting war, humanitarian crises, and women’s stories across the Middle East, Africa, and beyond on assignment for The New York Times and National Geographic. Since 9/11, she has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Darfur, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, and Ukraine.
Named one of the five most influential photographers of the past 25 years by American Photo Magazine, Addario has redefined how global conflicts are seen. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir It’s What I Do (2015), and the photo book Of Love and War (2018).
Her accolades include a MacArthur Fellowship, multiple Overseas Press Club Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes for team reporting (Ukraine, 2023; Afghanistan/Pakistan, 2009), and finalist citations in 2023 and 2025 for both Feature and Breaking News Photography. She has also received a Polk Award, Olivier Rebbot Award, Emmy nominations, and five honorary doctorates recognizing her impact on journalism and photography.
Director and Producer
Chai Vasarhelyi is an Academy Award–winning filmmaker best known for co-directing Free Solo, which won the 2019 Oscar and BAFTA for Best Documentary Feature and seven Emmy Awards. Her work spans acclaimed documentaries including The Rescue, Meru, Return to Space, and the Nat Geo series Photographer and Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin.
In 2023, she co-directed her first scripted feature, Nyad (Netflix), which earned Oscar nominations for Annette Bening and Jodie Foster. Upcoming in 2025 are two new National Geographic feature documentaries: Love+War and Lost in the Jungle. Vasarhelyi is also the recipient of a Peabody, a News & Documentary Emmy, and numerous festival prizes. A Princeton graduate, she lives in New York with her two children.
Director and Producer
Jimmy Chin is an Academy Award–winning filmmaker, National Geographic photographer, and elite climber and skier. He has documented pioneering expeditions worldwide for over 20 years, including summiting and skiing Mount Everest and making the first ascent of Meru’s Shark’s Fin.
With Chai Vasarhelyi, he co-directed Free Solo (Oscar and BAFTA winner, 2019) and The Rescue. His photography has appeared on the covers of National Geographic and The New York Times Magazine. Recent projects include Nyad (Netflix) and the Nat Geo series Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin. In 2025, he premieres two new documentaries: Love+War and Lost in the Jungle. Chin lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with his wife Chai and their two children.
