This is what happens when the digital camera comes out. The girls start to run around, pick friends and get creative. We use available light and sit still while the students direct the photography. I’m blessed to have film portraits of all these girls, and some digital images as a reminder of our times together.
The respect that I have for the communities in rural India is immense. Having seen the hard work with my own eyes, watched families share responsibilities in the fields 24/7 and then experienced their generosity without fail has led me to these areas over and over again for the past 16 years. This man for example has worked since he was the age of these young boys, and continues to work without rest. True inspiration!
When Customs Officials seized my film going into Cuba, I made a quick decision to salvage my summer and head to Lebanon. From Cuba I ordered the replacement film and flew back to the States immediately, then caught the plane to Lebanon with the new film!
I was so glad that I did, because the photography in Lebanon flourished. Here connections were made with further camps and countless new children. This young girl was as exquisite as any star and had the light on that afternoon to make portraits with the classic, Hollywood light!
What an experience!
They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.
This village specifically, and this very school, are dear to me. The school itself is very small, has perhaps 24 girls and 20 boys. This is the scenery just behind the school, and all around it as well. The children are so curious and deserve our best in order to help improve their circumstances. We hope to do better in 2022.
This young girl attends a religious school six days a week, and endures a most conservative society day to day. We have worked with this school for the past eight years and hope to support their headmaster with his vision to bring a more rounded curriculum to his school. She and her sister are identical twins, with the exception of the pattern on her right cheek. They both love to be photographed and their eyes open wide when we ask them to come over. Their headmaster is a wonderful man and hopes to expand the curriculum past the existing one based on religion only.
The purpose of selling these portraits on Etsy is to support the social work being accomplished through my photography. Presently we have six sewing centers in two states of India, serving both the Hindu and the Muslim communities. In these sewing centers, young women learn a trade while also making clothing for their families. The centers are located in the rural areas, where young women have only one option normally, marriage and a family. At this moment, due to COVID-19, the work is on hold. However, we plan to restart the centers in 2022 and the funds from the sale of these portraits will be applied to the work in India.
This is a silver gelatin print of a young student made by me, the photographer, in my darkroom. It is printed on Ilford MGIVWT glossy fiber 11x14 paper, and toned in selenium for permanence. It is processed in a Zone VI washer to archival standards, and allowed to dry overnight on a screen. The camera/lens combination was a Hasselblad 501CM/100mm, and the frame was exposed onto Kodak's fabulous Tri-X film.
As a side note, my belief is that you will be very pleased with the print in person, as the tones of a silver gelatin print are difficult to represent through the screen. One may sense the surface of the print by looking at the gloss in certain areas of the print's surface. In the end, the print you will receive will be slightly different than the one represented on the screen, both in tone and in emotional impact... different in the best sense of the word. Every print is an original, and my hope is that it finds a good space in your home.
Each print will be signed and dated by me, the photographer, and numbered to a maximum of 50 prints (11x14) per negative.
A dozen years ago I was privileged to have access to a beautiful community in western Kenya, thanks to a foundation named MACODEF. We went from village to village, from school to school, in search of incredible people and stories. This school was on the outskirts of Kisumu, and we walked just to the side to make portraits of the entire student body. Some children had shoes and some lacked, while almost all of the children were wearing the only uniform that they possessed. The foundation is doing remarkable work given the conditions, and I applaud their efforts sincerely.
They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.
In the end all three points are irrelevant. More than Arabic as a common language, it’s the language without words that matters most.
Here she is in front of the NGO school in her camp, expressing herself with that pose and smile!
They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.
