Seeing and believing (the real power of photography to change) us
Written by duckrabbitI was touched by John’s post about Room 13.
Kids are important aren’t they?
We just don’t do nearly enough in this world to nurture and protect them. It’s almost always the kids at the bottom of the pile that suffer the most. It’s a great national sport in the UK sneering at and vilifying their parents who were probably fucked up by their own parents, but we’re rarely prepared to pick up and help put together the shattered pieces of these ‘problem’ children’s lives.
I was a bit of a problem child so I know that the difference between living and dying can be as simple as someone else believing in you enough for you to start believing in yourself.
Creating art can make a huge difference. Most importantly it can make you feel that life is worth living and you can’t put a price on that.
Last year I had the pleasure of mentoring the young Belgium photographer Alice Smeets. I was really chuffed when she went on to win a POYI award for a series of photofilms she made in Haiti. Some wonderful work. But Alice’s love of Haiti goes a lot deeper than the usual beautifully lit photography statement about compassion and ‘giving people a voice’. She wanted to actually give something back to a country that in her own words,
‘according to UNICEF, children in Haiti are more likely to die during early childhood than in any other country in the Western hemisphere. Only about 50% of Haitian children attend school; thousands are being held as slaves, so-called restaveks; and many boys and girls grow up as orphans in the streets of the capital, where prostitution is part of everyday survival. Following the earthquake, about a million people have lost their homes. Schools and universities were destroyed. Parents, children, teachers, professors, doctors have died. Many people, especially children, are traumatised.’
What did Alice do? She set up her own foundation,‘Viv Timoun’ – this is Creole for: ‘Live, little child‘, and started teaching a small group of young people the skills that have given her so much pleasure in life: photography.
Today I just happened to watch this film about one of the young men Viv Timoun is sponsering. Its wonderful. And I say that not in a crappy patronising way. Watch through to the end which comes with a very touching moment.
Alice’s photography is brilliant, but to me, the birth of Viv Timoun is her best work. (more info about the photography project here)
Author — duckrabbit
duckrabbit is a production company formed by radio producer/journalist Benjamin Chesterton and photographer David White. We specialize in digital storytelling.
Discussion (6 Comments)
Magic. Effing magic.
Thats what photography is all about. Your first link underlines for me one of the things that makes me uncomfortable about photography as an art form – that its the ‘value’ of the resulting object that so often makes the news, and rarely is it about the value to the individuals who participate in the creation of the images.
As Joerg states:
” I give a rat’s ass about what those photographs are worth monetarily. Their real value for me lies in their visual power, in the firm grasp they have on my imagination.
With this attitude – and given my own lack of financial buying power – I am a nonentity for the art market and, frankly, I relish that role. Money is not what drew me to photography. It is my ever growing passion for the experience photography has to offer that drew me to it.”
Alice’s work is at the sharp end of making the experience of photography matter.
Value: Priceless.
I sincerely hope that he and others like him somehow, someway get the opportunity to fulfill their dream if it does in fact lie in photography. It’s cruel to expose young people to such possibilities, only to pull the rug from under them when the time comes to transition from creative outlet to career choice because of the inevitable cost factors.
Not criticizing here- just hoping (against hope) for the best, and wishing I could contribute more.
Hi Stan,
I hear what you are saying and its very important the balance is right. A bit of self-belief can go a long way though.
Hi Stan,
Benoit as well as the others students of our workshop will all have a chance to work as a photographer after the workshop. They will all get internships with Haitian advertisement companies, newspapers, international press agencies, NGOs (communication office) or work as assistants of Haitian or international, Haiti based photographers. At the same time everybody gets a well acclaimed, professional photographer somewhere in the world as a mentor who will work with them criticizing and helping via Internet for a period of two years.
I wish you all the best,
Alice
Dear Benjamin,
thank you so much for this wonderful post! My team and I feel very honored that our project is published on your blog.
I agree with you that creating art can make a huge difference. We noticed that in the change of behavior of our students. Some started the workshop as very shy characters and got a lot of confidence during the weeks of training. Some started out with not much meaning in their lives and are now considering photography almost as their religion. I’m happy we started this project and I am also glad that I am not doing it alone, but work with a wonderful small team of teachers and a great cameraman, Frederic Biegmann, who is doing the little introduction videos of our students.
I’m sending warm regards from Haiti!
Alice
Alice- That is great news!