Haiti

For as long as I can remember, conversations about Haiti have been impulsive and often dismissive. When travelers craft out their bucket list of places to visit, Haiti never seems to be on the top of their list or even on the list at all. Many Haitians themselves have not visited Haiti or do not plan on returning to their home country. The reason for this I believe is that Haiti is seldom painted in the media as a place of culture, food, art and love but more of a country overcome with poverty, crime and despair. The last memories that people often use as their reference point when speaking about Haiti are the horrific images from the 2010 earthquake that left the country in utter shambles and destruction.

Roughly four years after the earthquake, I had an opportunity to travel Haiti on a journey of discovery. On this journey I had only one mandate, which was to experience Haiti for myself. On my Journey I felt like I had discovered something that people don’t often get to see portrayed in the mainstream media. Haiti is filled with LIFE. Haiti is vibrant, colorful and most of all ALIVE. The people of Haiti have been through a lot but their nature is a lot stronger than their struggles. I would go as far as to say that Haiti is filled with what I perceive as little moments: A smile from a merchant, a glance from a couple of kids playing balloon.

In any other country these occurrences would be a normality but in Haiti they seem to mean a lot more. You may have to fight for those little moments but once you experience them …they are simply magical. It’s heartwarming to witness people who have been through so much be so resilient, optimistic all while keeping a smile on their faces.

My personal mission in Haiti was to try and capture all that I was experiencing on film. The hard part for me was to not lose the essence of life within the strong backdrops of chaos and destruction that the earthquake had left behind four years prior. I believe that the camera has a unique way of capturing memories and moments that can live on forever and shape perceptions. I felt that I had a responsibility to share as accurately as possible the conditions of Haiti while also highlighting the pockets of beauty that were also very real and part of the country’s makeup.

This June 2014, I hope to be able to share with my peers here in Montreal and around the globe what my lens has captured in Haiti with an exhibition simply titled “4 Haiti”. This exhibit will showcase 24 of my strongest pieces that best describe visually what life in Haiti is like four years after the earthquake and I can’t wait to share it.