Strand is one of five CNN war zone camerawomen whose incredible front-line journalism and life stories are featured in the documentary “No Ordinary Life,” which premieres on CNN TV on Monday at 10 p.m. ET.
We recently caught up with this legendary journalist, who left CNN in 2019, on the cusp of a new headline in her life — teaching a course at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont called Female Journalists: Headlines, Deadlines, and Frontlines.
Below is a portion of our conversation, edited for length and clarity:
What’s it like being on the other side of the camera in ‘No Ordinary Life’?
(Filmmaker) Heather O’Neill, who is a friend and former colleague of mine, approached each of us and said, “I'd like to make a film about you gals” because it was just a such a unique time at CNN.
While there were many female still photographers working around the world, there just weren't that many females behind the video cameras. At first I told Heather, “Oh no, I am much better behind the camera than being focused on,” but then I realized that I could hopefully inspire other people and give a little bit of a look behind the scenes for photojournalists.
People trust us with the most intimate moments of their lives and it's such a responsibility, and I hope that people seeing this film will understand that and how each of us cared so deeply about the people that we had the gift of filming, sometimes in very bad circumstances.
Tell us a bit about how you decided to become a camerawoman.
When I went to university, I started studying chemical engineering. In my third year, I was lucky enough to I realize that I was on the wrong bus and I could make a change. I had always loved photography so I switched to journalism, and I was hired as a video journalist (entry-level position) when CNN was young.
I did anything and learned everything I could to work my way up, and I had always wanted to work overseas — in my day, you would quit your job and pick a war zone and go there to freelance and then try to be hired. And that's exactly what I did. I quit and moved to Beirut and then CNN picked me up there on a full-time basis as a tape editor.
My career has been a series of calculated risks. Later, I quit for a year and studied Chinese in China and the timing was just perfect because at the end of that year (1987), CNN opened its bureau in Beijing. They took a chance on me and gave me the full-time camera position in Beijing.
Some people tell us, “Oh you're adventure seekers and adrenaline junkies,” and that's just not the case. Yes, you get used to life on the road — but you do pay the price for that. And certainly, in my early days, we didn't even have flak jackets or helmets and, more importantly, we didn't know what PTSD was. Sometimes the guilt of leaving people behind in terrible circumstances is something you would also carry with you. Now there is just so much more education and help out there for journalists who experience trauma and bring it home with them. CNN is certainly a media organization at the forefront of this kind of care for its employees.
