Some medium format portraits

This probably my last batch of shots from the trip. A few portraits taken on my Yashica of some of the really amazing kids I met on the way.

Liberia in Black and White

Here are some of my 120 film scans from Liberia. People often ask me my favorite countries in the world and I have always mentioned Cambodia because of the people. Now when people ask me i'll probably say Liberia and Cambodia. In both countries there is something special about the people and the energy they have. This is definately a place I want to come back to someday.

Mechanics in front of their workshop in Monrovia

Liberian Smile

Cutting coconuts to sell for their juice

Haiti in Black and White

Here are some scans of shots taken on my medium format in old black and white film. There is something special about shooting through a viewfinder which sits at waist height, or as I sometimes like to shoot with my Yashica on the ground. I'm definitely going to start taking this camera everywhere with me, i've also just ordered a film scanner so I can process and scan my own film.

Life goes on in Haiti, woman sit selling chatting whilst selling good in the market.

This side of the wall ruins and filth the other side market life goes on

A man and his son in the ruined shell of Notre Dame Cathedral

Mountains of filth, a man walks past.

last shots from Haiti

Later today I leave Haiti for my two day journey back to Cape Town. I'm looking forward to getting back, cleaning up all the weird bugs and parasites that have found home on my body here and getting stuck into to some of my new projects. Adjusting to normal life is usually a little difficult after a trip like this, you feel a little disconnected for a while.

A boy sits with his wheel barrow amongst the piles of trash

An old woman crosses the ruins and piles of rubbish in the city of Port au Prince

Scars of the quake can still be seen everywhere you look.

Haiti

Yesterday morning we spent an hour visiting a local market to get some cutaways for the video we are making. The market surrounds an empty building site which is now trash dump site and toilet. Since the earthquake the government services are barely running. There is no rubbish collection so the streets are piled high with trash. People burn the rubbish so driving through the city you pass numerous burning piles, the smoke filling the streets with an eerie light and sickly smell. This market was a disturbing mixture of foods, medicine and sim cards surrounding piles of burning trash, human excrement and flies. Life goes on in Haiti.

A young boy walks past burning rubbish surrounded by hundreds of flies in a market in Haiti.

Haiti

I'm in Haiti on another shoot. Unfortunately for security reasons i'm not able to shoot stills nearly as much as I would like. So far this is the most destitute country I have ever visited and looking around I see very little hope at all. The people I see struggling to get by every day on the streets are some of the most desperate I have ever seen, its overwhelming.

I did get chance to shoot one shot the other day though when visiting a Cathedral in the center of the town which was ruined by the earthquake. I have also shot a few shots on my medium format so i'm looking forward to developing those too.

A man with an amputated leg standing in the ruined shell of Haiti's Notre Dame Cathedral

Ministry

We have driven past it every day on our trip, the looming and oppressive looking ex Ministry of Defense. Now its just an empty shell, yet every time we drove past it I was drawn to it, and was desperate to have a look inside. Today I got my chance before shooting. It was a lot emptier and cleaner than I expected and surprisingly did not have groups of people living in the now abandoned rooms.

The Ministry

There are people inside however. Security guards who watch the building and protect the cell phone towers on its roof. One of the guards who's job is security for the entire building lives here and was kind enough to show me around.

Walking the passage ways of the Ministry

Watching the Tower

Standing Guard

'Where I Live' the only inhabitant of the Ministry

mechanic

A late start today means that I get to spend an hour outside shooting some stills. Unfortunately the weather has turned a bit and is raining so most of the things I would have liked to shoot outside are pretty flat. I did get one shot I liked though whilst meeting my drivers mechanic in his workshop. I love how much stuff there is in the small space and the great light coming through the only doorway. Next stop for today, the Presidents office where we are shooting an interview with the President of Liberia.

Moments

Sometimes I think I might be one of the luckiest people alive. The places I see and experience and the people I connect with as a result are moments I believe very few people in the world will ever have. Many of them I can never express in words and most will get lost in translation if try explain. They are moments that will stay with me and the people I meet and in some way they disconnect me from people back home as I can never fully share it with anyone else. Yet they enrich me more than anything material in the world and give me rare glimpse of life so unique I would never want anything less. So sorry for the lack of background in some of these shots. There are stories I cant talk about and stories I couldn't express.

washing

Another shot from today I managed to grab quickly on our way out from an area where we shot some video. Basically just a woman doing her washing in a very poor area of Monrovia.