Back in the US of A, doing a Lee Cohen cross-country reunion tour with some good friends. Now finishing up my grad school work, and looking for a job.
Seeing as how I’m longer “in Haiti”, it’s time to move on to bigger and better things.
I recently started a new website just for my photography. I whole-heartedly reccommend you check it out.
The site is called The Lee Cohen [dot] Com
I’m thinking of having one final post, a sort of reflection of the past year, some thoughts, some lingering questions, etc. But why spoil it on a blog post when it could be a chapter of a book? Decisions Decisions.
Thanks to all the people who read the words here, a firm rigorous hand shake of appreciation for all those who commented on the words here. Commenting is so much better than just reading. Having that feedback, knowing that people are not only reading the words but interacting with them, is a great feeling, especially when you’re abroad and not sure if anyone’s really paying any attention.
So, thank you. Hope to see you again sometime.
Was at an IDP camp yesterday shooting for the NGO I work for (only 2 more weeks? really?). Was moved at how well the camps are running–no one certainly WANTS to be there, but overall they’re calm and well organized. Click on the “read more” to see the pics.
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Click below to view slideshow.
I did a bit of traveling the past week, seeing more of the country, taking pictures for an NGO that needed pictures on the ground in Haiti. There’s more coming, but here are some early favorites.
Photograph from “Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press” found HERE.
On Wednesday I start a five day contract with an NGO to follow them around and take photographs of what they’re doing. I’ve been working in Haiti for 6 months, and take a lot of pictures, and I think I know some of the basic rules of photography in this context. Mainly, ask permission. If the person is unsure of why you want to take their photograph, explain why as clearly and honestly as possible. Don’t get in the way. Try and focus on new stories, not old ones. There are plenty of photographs of amputees. My goal is not to add to that reservoir; my goal is tell new stories with my camera. However, I’m also getting paid to take photographs, and need to take in to account my employers interests.
So, I ask you, what advice, tips, dos and don’ts, can you share? I’ve never been paid to take photographs before, it’s always just been a hobby, or an extra “bonus” I bring with me to the other “real” job I’m doing. For five days, taking photographs is my real job. My instinct is to be invisible. To have the people I’m following not really “think” about me: to document both the obvious stuff as well as the moments that escape them because they’re focused on the things right in front of them, rightfully so. Don’t objectify. Don’t sensationalize.
What else? What are the nuances, you photographers out there? Please comment here on other things to think about.
I was inspired after reading an article Foto8 about how all the pictures coming out of Haiti looked the same. And I remembered Binyavanga Wainaina’s article, “How to Write About Africa“, in which he writes:
Describe, in detail, naked breasts (young, old, conservative, recently raped, big, small) or mutilated genitals, or enhanced genitals. Or any kind of genitals. And dead bodies. Or, better, naked dead bodies. And especially rotting naked dead bodies. Remember, any work you submit in which people look filthy and miserable will be referred to as the ‘real Africa’, and you want that on your dust jacket. Do not feel queasy about this: you are trying to help them to get aid from the West. The biggest taboo in writing about Africa is to describe or show dead or suffering white people.
So, I thought I’d upload some pictures I took on Wednesday to a trip to the countryside, where a colleague and I were seeing how the waves of IDPs leaving Port au Prince were affecting rural communities. What we found was, in a sense, typical: we found problems, people who were frustrated, people who seemed to still be in shock. We also found families back together for the first time in a long time. We found parents taking in children, and children taking back their parents.
