After combat photographer Stacy Pearsall was discharged as disabled from the Air Force at age 28, she didn't know what to do with her life. But she knew one thing: "Being disabled did not mean I was unable."
Staff Sgt. Pearsall, who was the first woman to win the National Press Photographers Association's military photographer of the year [7], graduated in 2004 from Newhouse School's Military Photojournalism Program. She spoke Thursday night before a standing room only crowd. Her hourlong talk included behind-the-scene accounts of war and, in a lighter vein, her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.
Pearsall was injured twice, once by a roadside bomb and again when she was shot trying to save a soldier's life. After her discharge, she began taking her camera to therapy sessions and shooting photographs of other injured veterans -- more than 300 in all. She also has produced video for a company that makes military armor.
"I've created a niche myself," Pearsall said. "I thought my career was over. I was really just segueing into a whole new life."
