La Bailarina y El Fotógrafo, Leidy y Eldo, Alamar, Cuba, July, 2011

Eldo works feverishly during my time on the island. From speaking with people to gaining access to certain populations, he does so in a most genuine manner. He cares about my work and considers it his own. When we sit down with the families, he never shows signs of being tired, of wanting to leave. He adores them as I do.

He is also a photographer and makes images during our sessions. He translates and instructs while releasing his own shutter. Eldo works with film, but uses a digital camera during our collaboration. The images above are his creations. What makes him even more remarkable is that he is doing this while doing many other tasks on my behalf.

For this session we meet Leidy outside of her home and then take her to the beach. She happens to live in the same neighborhood as two of our other dancers, and knows them well. It's a small world after all. She is a consummate professional, and works primarily as a dancer in the capital. She never tires nor does she show frustration when we ask for something new.

Hopefully I will see her and her friends in five weeks and look forward to the collaboration.

For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography

Young Girl, Daasanech Community, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia, February, 2010

Just like her sister in Cuba in the previous post, she is surrounded by her younger sisters and in a safe place amongst her community. Every hour or so during the busy days a truck carrying tourists stops in the town next to her tiny village. A narrow river divides them from the rest of this area's population. Some tourists reach them from Kenya on the other side of the river, and some cross the river from Ethiopia to reach them. We were part of the latter group.

Upon crossing the river we walked perhaps ten minutes to reach them. We first negotiated with the elders prior to our photography, then rested a bit with some videography before beginning with the photography. It was cloudy so we experimented a bit with some images on the ground. As the sun rose from behind the clouds the girls allowed us to make their portraits standing up.

Although communication through spoken word was impossible for me, the translators needing even their own translator, communication through facial expressions was more than sufficient. Like my friends in Cuba, this young woman reacted as kindly to my gestures. She smiled when teased and never made it seem difficult, nor out of place.

According to Wikipedia:

'The Daasanach are a primarily agropastoral people; they grow sorghum, maize, pumpkins and beans when the Omo river and its delta floods. Otherwise the Daasanach rely on their goats and cattle which give them milk, and are slaughtered in the dry season for meat and hides. Sorghum is cooked with water into a porridge eaten with a stew. Corn is usually roasted, and sorghum is fermented into beer. The Daasanach who herd cattle live in dome-shaped houses made from a frame of branches, covered with hides and woven boxes (which are used to carry possessions on donkeys when the Daasanach migrate). The huts have a hearth, with mats covering the floor used for sleeping. The Dies, or lower class, are people who have lost their cattle and their way of living. They live on the shores of Lake Turkana hunting crocodiles and fishing. Although their status is low because of their lack of cattle, the Dies help the herders with crocodile meat and fish in return for meat.'

'Women are circumcised by removing the clitoris so the form of circumcision is less extreme than some as it leaves room for babies to be born. Women who are not circumcised are called animals or boys and cannot get married or wear clothes. Women wear a pleated cowskin skirt and necklaces and bracelets, they are usually are married off at 17 while men are at 20. Boys are circumcised. Men wear only a checkered cloth around their waist.'

During the session I became quite exhausted and asked to rest for a bit. A few days after this session we would visit a rural hospital and would recuperate nicely. For the time being however we decided to end the photography early and made our way to the truck and back to the shack we would call home for the night. Seizures and fever would be my friends for the evening, and the sound of truckers with their female companions outside as my sonic entertainment.

A few pain/sleeping pills were taken in the hope that the night would end early for me, at least before the mosquitos found their way through the devastated netting. As far as I was concerned, they could feast as they wish as long as I was asleep. In the end they made their way inside,  began their party and then stayed for the night before I found myself asleep. All in all, the young woman above and her friends made this night insignificant. In the future I will hopefully return to this community, with proper mosquito netting in hand.

For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography

Aunt, Centro Habana, Cuba, July 10th, 2011

In five weeks we will be on the same street photographing her family once again. Seven years ago her niece was the first one photographed, now the entire family has been included. This is her first portrait. She gave of herself in order to allow the younger ones to be more comfortable in the sunlight; she allowed her hair to be thrown in the air without reservation.

From this session we made the best images of her niece since that first year, and credit goes to her and to my host family for allowing us to use the rooftop as our studio. My friend's wife worked with the girls' hair, and dressed them up nicely for their portraits. This was the first year such care was provided to them prior to the photography, and the mood was jubilant.

In the street she presents herself as a tough, young woman. She certainly has reason to do so from my limited experiences. On the rooftop she was more reserved, spoke less and smiled much more. When I asked her to be photographed, she grinned and walked up to the wall without question. This was a safe place for her, with her younger sisters all around.

After the photography we walked downstairs into my friends' home, and had some cold ice cream from the local corner bodega, chocolate and strawberry the flavors.

For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography

Student + Slide, Humana People to People, Rajasthan, India, November, 2009

While most of my portraits in Asia as of late have been devoid of background, this specific village in Rajasthan has always been an exception. Perhaps because the school is near an open space, or perhaps because a most magnificent slide sits nearby, my preference here is different.

The slide is just the perfect height to elevate the girls above their environment and allow the sky to be the only background. It is pyramidal in shape, with a flat top and rectangular cutout underneath acting as a doorway for the children to pass from one side to the other. It is the color of clay and possesses a smooth metal surface for the children to slide upon.

The school is located perhaps fifty meters to the left, and most of the students are gathered behind me awaiting their turn. All of the girls are eager to climb the slide, even the youngest of them. They are perhaps just as eager to slide down after their portrait is made.

Humana People to People India supported a school in this village until two years ago, and has since shifted its efforts to opening new schools in new villages. I have always admired this process and have seen its effectiveness on the ground. The schools act as 'Bridges' from a life without education to continued education through the formal government school system.

Humana People to People of India approaches the villages to enlist their cooperation in the education of their girl population. The schools then function under the supervision of the local population and enroll girls without access to formal education. After a three year period these very girls are encouraged to attend the government schools, therefore realizing the function of these 'Bridge' schools.

While the school in this village is now closed, it had over the past ten years provided opportunities for countless girls to gain an education and to continue that education formally. We hope that next year funding can be provided to reopen this school and to allow future generations to regain the opportunity given to the previous.

For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography

The Praxan Aesthetic, Studio, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, May 2, 2012

The series above was made possible through an effortless collaboration with the artist Praxa. Simply stated this experience is without equal in my local photographic experience and parallels my overseas work.

He brings to the table an inexhaustible mind and a deep sense of the world around us. My work in Asia is possible because of his selflessness; inspiration is always to be found in his words as well as his actions. He believes in my work and sees the people within it as his brothers and sisters. Through this collaboration he has joined them in my portfolio.

Every emotion was expressed in this session. He did more than act, he gave of himself as he has always done. Using a mixture that included oil and ingredients from the local land, he shed all layers aside and presented a most pure light. At times it was difficult to photograph, due to my desire to sit and watch.

In little more than an hour this was accomplished, whereas many take this much time just to shed the most superficial of layers.

I am proud to know Praxa and consider myself privileged to be called his brother.

National Missing Children's Day, Child, On the Streets of Dakar, Senegal, 2006

In the streets of Dakar six years ago this young boy and two of his friends approached us. They were curious and respectful, had little more than the shirts on their backs and pants just as worn. My mind wondered where they lived, whether in the capital or far away, having come to the capital to find something to earn.

When they approached me I was making pictures of a wall. They seemed nice enough and I offered to make their portraits. They quickly accepted and the portrait above is the result of that moment.

Today is National Missing Children's Day. Even though I lack children of my own, I cannot help but imagine the horror of losing a child, or thinking that one's child is suffering a life on the streets like the young boy above.

Nearly 800,000 children go missing each year in the States alone, and an equal number of girls for example in India suffer a similar fate due to a preference for boys by parents. Regarding the latter more can be learned through the following link:

BBC News Article

I have never forgotten him and hope that he has found a better way.

For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography

The Last View of Home, Île de Gorée, Off the Coast of Dakar, Senegal, February, 2006

Perhaps this stone has been in this place for ten years, perhaps for two hundred years.

One thing is for certain, this is the view that countless Africans shared as they were removed from their continent and enslaved for future generations to come. On this small island near the city of Dakar they were held, on this small island their lives changed forever.

According to an entry in Wikipedia:

'Probably no more than a few hundred slaves per year departed from here for transportation to the Americas. They were more often transported as incidental passengers on ships carrying other cargoes rather than as the chief cargo on slave ships. After the decline of the slave trade from Senegal in the 1770s and 1780s, the town became an important port for the shipment of peanuts, peanut oil, gum arabic, ivory, and other products of the "legitimate" trade.'

Does the number lessen the horror?

While sitting on this beach making this image, visions of Africans shackled in ships and held standing for sale passed through my mind like a slideshow. One cannot imagine the horrors that must have passed through the minds of the people on this island hundreds of years ago, so close to the African continent yet destined to live in a land devoid of their people, their history, their culture and their language.

They were removed from their continent as Africans and forced onto another as slaves. 

Can one imagine such an experience? How does a language disappear? How is a culture snuffed out? How is a history lost?

The first few generations might have thought, we will never forget. How can we ever forget?

As decades turned into centuries, I imagine that these questions must have dissolved as well.

I can never come close to understand a single millisecond of the above, but can appreciate the view above, a view of the unknown.

For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography

Yet Another Girl, Banjara Community, Humana People to People, Rajasthan, India, November 25, 2008

A friend of the girl from the previous post, she belongs to the same community of Banjara.

On Thanksgiving Day of 2008, we make her portrait on the rooftop of the school building. Her expression is represented on the tenth frame of the twelfth roll of film on this spectacular afternoon. We walk around town from one cluster to another, treated to the most beautiful of spirits.

While hardened to the streets from my observations, within their neighborhoods it is an entirely different world. Rather than approach me as a stranger and with the thought of collecting donations, they approach me on this day as a contributor to their schools and offer themselves to my camera.

Children come running from every corner and chaos it seems is the order of the day. However when one child steps up all the rest allow their friend to have a portrait made. Only when time comes for the next person does chaos return. Like waves landing on a beach, there is a rhythm to the process.

With the introduction of Humana People to People to India came the Academy for Working Children. As written by HPPI:

Humana People to People India runs Academy for Working Children. The idea of the program is to provide basic education to the migrant workers children in industrial areas of India. The project responds as well to the child labour issue by providing a chance for the children to pursue education to have a brighter future and teaching the parents to value the children's education.

Their work invigorates me, gives me more reason to follow through with these images. Without asking for anything in return the good people of Humana People to People invite me into their villages. They are just happy that these children get access to someone and something different from their routine.

After six years of documentation it is time to do something more, to perhaps involve myself more so. This is the thrust behind the current movement to locate funding for five schools. I have worked with two other foundations in India and have nothing but respect for them. I look forward to visiting Rajasthan in November of this year and to perhaps seeing these schools filled with children like the young girl above.

For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography

Banjara Girl, Humana People to People, Rajasthan, India, November 25, 2010

This young girl and her community enchant me to this day.

As with most of my work from India, the portrait is made from below with the bluest of skies as the background. She stands on a chair and on the roof of her school. I sit in the stairwell and move every time another girl steps onto the roof past me for her portrait.

We are very careful to make sure it is one child at a time and that the child is nowhere near the edge of the building, since the roof is flat without any walls surrounding. Her community, the Banjara, is a minority yet numbers perhaps near six million in this land of diversity.

The name of their community is derived from a Sanskrit compound word meaning 'Forest Wanderers.' One source tells of their role in the salt trade, from the Indian Ocean to the interior. Others point to them as the 'Gypsies' of Asia, dispersed as a people to the Middle East and beyond. Their tattoos might be related to the tattoos evident in my work with the Bedouin of Lebanon.

With Humana People to People in India, the children of this community have found a champion. Instead of days filled with trash picking, they have at least three hours per day in a classroom learning to read and to write. It is a remarkable accomplishment in that the surrounding communities see very little worth in these most beautiful children.

A little bit before this portrait was made, we stopped by the side of the road to get some oranges and apples. At the fruit stand a few children gathered around us asking for a donation, and were quite courageous. I knew that they would recognize the faces in my photography book and took it out of my bag to share with them. As the pages turned from faces of strangers to the faces of their friends, they turned into our guides and insisted on showing us to their community.

I asked them if they were going to be in school later. They nodded. I then told them that we will show up later to make their portraits and to tell all of the others to be there. When we arrived later they were all waiting, in their most glorious attire.

I will always follow them and hope that our efforts in the near future can support their humble schools.
For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography

Dinner in Banganga, Students from the School, Banganga, Rajasthan, India, November 22, 2009

As summer approaches here in the States, students will be looking forward to vacation and rightfully so. At the same time in Rajasthan, girls in the villages of my photography will continue their chores without change, for their schools were closed two years ago in spite of exemplary efforts from Humana People to People India.

At the time of this image, the school was still functional. The woman standing to the right of the frame is the mother of these two young girls, also their teacher in the village school. She watches over them as they prepare our meal. They consider me a part of their family and I consider them in the same manner. They have been with me since the beginning of my work in Rajasthan, and will be with me for as long as I am able to visit them.

In this room they make one of my dinners, with the second of my dinners being made just next door by their aunt. They find it a bit comical and enjoy watching me attempt to finish two meals, one after the other. They must see the sweat on my forehead and my need to drink glass after glass of water. Regardless, or perhaps of such, they continue to feed me in some effort to make sure that my return home is a healthy one.

Every ingredient in their meals comes from the earth around them, and tastes like nothing in my culinary experience with the exception of my Mother's cooking, and that of my family in Lebanon. Their ability to do everything for themselves impresses me continuously, even more so with the girls of these two families. Everything they do seems effortless. Watching them makes me feel quite useless actually, distant from the land that nurtures all of us.

We have received some wonderful news this past week and look forward to the possibility of the reopening of five schools. We are now looking to increase that possibility through our network and hope that the readers of this blog will find inspiration to be a part of this project.

For more of my work, and to contribute your thoughts regarding this project, please visit the newly designed website below, courtesy of Patrick Luu.

Halim Ina Photography