Vintage

Linda is the founder of the grassroots organization SOA Watch/NE, and coordinator of the Jean Donovan Community Peace Center, which hosts the Mariposa Outreach Project, a mentoring program which supports survivors of torture and their families. She is the producer and director of the award winning documentary "An Insider Speaks Out!", which highlights the abuses of the military training facility, the School of the Americas (SOA).

Her photos have been widely published in books, magazines, and newspapers, and aired on several networks. She also does extensive lecturing using her slides to educate others about the implications of US foreign policy and the realities of war.

She writes of her work: "People have often asked me if I feel a bit detached from the moment when shooting behind my lens. On the contrary, I feel I am able to connect at a very deep level with the people I am photographing. In fact, I try to shoot every shot with the intention that this one image will in fact speak a thousand words, that it will have the potential to move others to act. Perhaps this action is as simple as becoming more compassionate towards the needs and desires of others, to be more open to different cultures and lifestyles. Maybe the act will be more radical, like joining a march for peace, participating in an act of civil resistance, phoning or visiting a member of Congress about a related issue; or as humanitarian as viewing others without prejudice, or preconceptions -- to love all others as we would love a member of our family.

"Perhaps this is a lot to expect of a photo, but I feel just such an obligation to the person looking into the lens of my camera -- into the depths of my soul. Whether it's the mother's look of desperation as she holds her dying child in her arms, or the silent yet pervading cries that come from a child dying of cancer; perhaps it's the wife mourning the loss of her husband killed by US bombs; the Afghan farmer who stepped on a land mine and has lifted his pant leg to show me his prosthetic -- and his self-determination; or the child shoe shiner on the streets of Basra, who has become the sole provider for his family. They have, for a split second, allowed me to capture a glimpse of their life -- their beauty, suffering, joy, sorrow and hope -- and to share it with others."