Elder + Countryside, Guanabacoa, Cuba, Summer of 2014

The day was spent in the darkroom printing amongst a few negatives this beautiful man's portrait. We drove to Alejandro's neighborhood to visit his son, and ended up meeting his son's father-in-law as we started on our way to photograph the village. When I asked to photograph him, both Alejandro and this exquisite man had some fun with it. He allowed us immediately, and then went on his way to tend to his land.

This past summer was different, in light of the two months on the island. We had more time to talk with the families, to accept their invitations to birthday parties and to indulge ourselves with just driving away from the big city. In the countryside life was very different, allowing us to breathe a bit while taking in the changes. In six months I look forward to yet another summer inCuba, and to furthering this work as only this incredible land has allowed me to do.

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Two Dancers + Racquetball Court, Santa Maria del Mar, Cuba, Summer of 2014

One day after I met these two beautiful children, we made these images near the beach at the racquetball courts. She and her family are on my mind as the relationship between Cuba and the States seems to be changing. 

What will happen to their way of life; how will the world around them be transformed? Will it be possible to meet a family like them in the future on the island, and collaborate with immediate trust the very next morning?

These images were made possible through a simple conversation the day before, started with an exchange regarding fruit for sale. After talking for less than an hour, we agreed on meeting the next morning one hour before sunrise and heading out to the racquetball courts near the beach. The courts would serve as the perfect stage for their performance, and then the children could run to the beach for a morning in the water.

While this family lives less than two blocks away from the sea, they rarely get the chance to visit the beaches of their own island. The cost of transportation alone prevents them from doing such. So to see them playing in the water after a serious session of photography brought me a deep sense of joy, to be able to give back a tenth of what they had given to me.

These are digital samples of the film images, and I cannot wait to print their analog equivalents soon in the darkroom.

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Note: These images were made with a Sony RX100M2, edited for size and contrast only. They were made at Santa Maria del Mar, Cuba this past summer.

Syrian Boy - Refugee, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Summer of 2001

The beginning of my photographic journey included this young Syrian boy living in Lebanon, surviving with his family as migrant workers. They lived a five minute drive from my family's house, but existed in a very different world. In tents they slept, without the most basic of 'conveniences' while they worked in the fields under the hot sun for less than $2 a day.

I look back at these images and try to remember the moment the shutter was released. I remember which side of the dirt path this was made, and the tent perhaps. In those days indirect light was used to make these portraits, and the interiors of rooms as backdrops.

I wonder where he is now, has he gone back to Syria and returned since then?

Note: His portrait was made with a Hasselblad 501 CM/120 mm lens combination.

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Ballerinas - Water, Santa Maria del Mar, La Habana, Cuba, Summer of 2013

Last year I felt the urge to join the dancers in the water, but was held back photographically. The minute I returned to the States I purchased a vintage medium format point-and-shoot camera, quite different than the more static equipment used for these sessions. I went back and forth, wondering if I had made the right decision.

Then came the time this past summer to join them in the water, to feel the warmth of the ocean and to be within a meter of them while holding a camera by hand. This was also the first time I wore shorts and a t-shirt on the island, and I felt the freedom of it all immediately.

Reading reviews and making decisions mentally is one thing, holding the camera in my hand while hearing the girls laughing in front of me is an entirely different matter altogether. These images would have been impossible before, yet felt so natural this past summer. Now I can't imagine being so far away from them, and look forward to printing these in the darkroom much sooner than later. 

These young girls, one a veteran and the other a rookie, worked together like they had known each other for years… when the fact is that they had just met. The older one, familiar to many of you, wanted to work with two younger dancers and be their mentor photographically. She was that and much more, increasing the range of this work and bringing even more fun to it all.

I cannot wait to show them these images, and to do it all over again next summer!

Note: These are rough scans through the negative sleeves, exposed by a Fuji GA645Wi.

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Four Years Later, Pan American Stadium, La Habana, Cuba, Summer of 2014

Today was spent beginning the scans of the film from this summer in Cuba. A good quarter of it was scanned, and this is but one example from the first 100 rolls. She is well known to those familiar with my work, and is fourteen years young in this portrait. This is her fourth year with me, and I hope to photograph her again next year in order to present her with a book of photographs for her very important 15th birthday.

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The Face of Understanding, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Summer of 2008

Those of us truly understood by others will recognize this face, for this is the face of understanding. Some say that we are fortunate to meet one such person in our lifetimes, but it has been my experience that almost every single street on my travels has revealed this face to me. While every single street has also revealed much of the opposite, those of understanding are etched into my mind. The others just faded away as fast as they appeared.

This young girl has been present in my work since the first days. She is an economic refugee from Lebanon, and her family works in the fields as migrants. Her father also happens to be the Chief of the local community, and is the person to whom the Lebanese farmers go when they need workers for their fields. He is a brother to me and has always protected me from the dangers of photographing the girls. While he is traditional in his customs, he also is quite aware of my work and promotes it with his soft yet powerful guidance.

An example of this is what happened previous to this image. I had finished photographing the girls in his camp when he asked me to take his family to visit his eldest daughter. This came as a complete surprise to me, that he would put his complete trust in me and send his wife and girls with someone other than himself in a car. The shock was also evident on her face, as she loaded her younger sisters into the backseat of the car.

The entire time we drove I looked into the rearview and saw this exact expression, and had to concentrate on the road while also reveling in the moment. She never spoke a word, even as we arrived to her sister's house and she sat for this portrait. Here was a young girl living as a migrant from another land, living without running water and a toilet, showing me that she understood me perfectly, that she understood my purpose in her life with complete clarity.

Throughout the years we would play a game between us, whispering our thoughts somewhat out loud in the middle of the chaos around us, almost like we were moving in slow motion while everyone around us hurried along. These have been the most memorable for me, and tell me that it is time to visit Lebanon in 2015.

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Mariel - Head Piece, El Mirage Dry Lake Bed, Los Angeles, California, 2012

My last visit to California yielded one photographic session outside of my planned schedule, three hours with the exquisite Mariel. While we had never met in person prior to this session, the creative chemistry between us was evident from our first encounter, just outside of her apartment. She came out carrying this incredible head piece, along with an elegant, dark dress… both specifically for our session.

We drove almost two hours just to get to El Mirage Dry Lake Bed, and talked continuously the entire time. Her life fascinated me, as well as her attraction to the people in my portfolio. She had done everything from magazine covers to short films to advertisements, yet wanted to be next to the girls in my photographic library, girls without access to any of the above. This I admired about her then, and continue to admire to this day.

We arrived to the dry lake bed and were treated to a most peaceful scene, with very few people around. This left us to do as we wished, and photograph without interruption. She allowed me to expose over three dozen medium format rolls, and all of which yielded images of incredible beauty.

In January of next year, I hope to be in California for a benefit hosted by DiviniTree Yoga and Arts Studio in honor of Nirvanavan Foundation. I will once again reach out to Mariel and hope that we can once again collaborate at El Mirage, and be honored with the presence of her sister Marita as well.

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Note: This image was made with a Hasselblad 555 ELD/180 mm combination onto Fuji Neopan Acros 100 ISO film. 

Helene + Yoga, Los Angeles, California, November of 2010

In advance of my collaboration with DiviniTree Yoga and Arts Studio, a triple image of my time with Helene is being shared. These images were made a few years ago just outside of Los Angeles, as we were forced to look for sunshine when the city was covered with nothing but a thick haze. With her kindness and trust, we drove an hour over the mountains and found a simple spot next to an industrial reservoir… an unlikely place for these images of serenity.

Helene however was a true professional and dealt with the cool winds coming from the valley, producing images of exquisite beauty and peace. She never complained once and only stopped when we were finished.

In January Ann and her team at DiviniTree Yoga and Arts Studio in Santa Barbara will hold a benefit featuring my work with Nirvana Bodhisattva and his foundation, Nirvanavan Foundation. We hope to raise awareness and funding for his schools, and have fun in the process. As the date nears I will post it for those near and far to come and show their support.

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Note: These images were made with a Hasselblad 555 ELD/180 mm combination onto Fuji Neopan Acros 100 ISO film.

Student + Nirvanavan Foundation, Alwar, Rajasthan, India, November of 2013

On this afternoon we walked through one of the villages associated with Nirvanavan Foundation in search of the students, but had some tough luck finding them. The sun was perfect, but it seemed that photographing them at the school was much easier than in the village. We made a few images in a couple of locations, and thought perhaps that we had finished for the afternoon as we were walking back to the office.

As we turned the corner to get back to the main road, this young girl caught my full attention. She was sitting in front of her house along with her mother. They were taking care of some chores when she saw me in return. She was of course quite shocked, wondered about this stranger in the middle of her out-of-the-way village. My friends from the foundation were also surprised that she caught my attention so fully, and even more so at my request to photograph her. Nonetheless they pushed forward and asked the mother's permission to do so.

Since the men were also from these villages, the family agreed readily and we set up to make her portrait. The entire time I could only think of her face and nothing else. The environment attracted me little, neither did the texture of her clothing. What engaged me were her features and how she assembled them to form the most incredible expressions.

Here was a girl never in the presence of a camera, even more so such a stranger… yet she was able to in a spontaneous instant put herself in front of the lens without any hesitation whatsoever. Rather than the usual setup, a lens extension was added to the camera to allow such a close portrait. The only subject in the viewfinder for me the entire time was her face, this was all my eyes could see as she shared her expressions.

Afterwards we made a few snapshots in front of her family's house, bid our farewell and returned to the main building five or so minutes away. What continues to amaze me with the people in these portraits is their willingness to be a part of the intangible, without asking for anything in return. They offer themselves fully and with such love, trust and kindness. One moment she's helping her mother with chores, the next she is standing in front of a complete stranger to make a photographic record of her existence for generations to come.

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Young Student + Enlightenment, Humana People to People India, Banganga, Rajasthan, India, December of 2013

This young girl's face is the face that changed my mind regarding one of the schools reopened last year. On my visits to her village late last year, it seemed quite a challenge to get the girls together in order to document their stories. The teacher and her family had always been very dear to me, but something had changed over the years. They were still very fond of me, and likewise from my end. However the dynamic between the teacher's family and that of her sister's family had changed, leading to some tension almost invisible to someone like myself, someone from the outside.

This resulted in the teacher doing less than the usual to get the students together during my visits. During one such visit which also happened to be my last, we arrived early in the morning to find nobody organized, and the teacher reacting less than enthusiastically to our vision. This, in addition to the previous experiences, brought great disappointment to me, made me question my desire to help reopen the school in this village, one of my favorites in Rajasthan.

The teacher saw clearly my disappointment and realized that perhaps our relationship was slipping away as we walked back to the van. Something changed in her immediately. It was at this moment that she asked her daughters to collect the younger girls and bring them to her home. They did as their mother asked and the younger students were gathered in their school uniforms. This young girl was one of the students standing in front of me that cool morning, pure innocence and absolute love, while the teacher asked me to go back to her home.

For the sake of these beautiful girls, I put my stuff down and took the time to photograph them. This portrait was from that very morning, and helped us move forward almost immediately.

We of course spoke very little of each other's language and the teacher decided to call the leader at Humana for help. He was located in Jaipur but took the time to listen to each of us and provide us with his guidance in order for the school to be reopened according to plan. While our relationship had changed dramatically last year, it is perhaps even stronger now… or at least clearer.

I look forward to seeing this young girl in March, and to learning that the school had made a difference in her life. This alone would make up for the troubles described above, and a dozen more indeed.

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Note: This image was made with a Hasselblad 555 ELD/180 mm lens with a close-up attachment onto Fuji Neopan Acros 100 ISO film.

#india   #rajasthan   #girlrising   #girlpower   #monochromeworld   #monochromephotography   #ethnographicstudies   #hasselblad   #portraitphotographer   #documentaryphotographer  +Halim Ina