Photographer Wayatt Gallery gives a peek into the lives of Haitians living in the tent cities of Port-au-Prince. Check out the details below…
Award-winning photographer, Wyatt Gallery, has documented the aftermath of tragedies and regular life at home and overseas. He seems to sense the potential for just this kind of much-needed commonality. His work establishes a sense of calm and a feeling that the photographer understands both what is visible and what the image doesn’t show. Gallery’s most recent photographs represent the lives that any one of us might live after a catastrophe with integrity and inherent respect for his subjects. His photography narrows the gulf between us and the real-people-of-everywhere-else.
Gallery has been working in and around so-called third world countries for several years now. He is a chameleon who immerses himself in the cultures most compelling to his eye and spirit. This has allowed him to create images that document in a truly different way. His work compels the eye because it unerringly evokes the spirit, the subconscious, and the necessary elements of his subjects. In his latest project, “Tent Life – Haiti”, Gallery, who spent his time in Haiti as a relief worker, presents to us the Haitian people and the reformed landscape of Port-au-Prince. The imagery here is vibrant and lush in a way that reminds us of the Haiti that is a handcrafted country, the first free nation of the Caribbean, that its people are undaunted and inherently resilient and that the potential of the nation lies there, as it always has, in the hearts of its population.
Following the debut of their charity tee, Nike is set to release a set of “Kinbe Pa Lage” custom sneakers for charity. You can make your bid on these extremely limited-edition shoes now, with all proceeds going towards the relief effort.
Check out a few pics of the shoes below…
The Haiti Earthquake was nearly four months ago, but the resounding emotional aftershock continues to ring loudly. You can do your part by bidding on the Nike Cradle Rock Low Kinbe Pa Lage designed by the students at Forest Park Elementary School in South Florida. The graphics featured on the upper and the shoelaces consist of drawings done by the students. This commemorative pair of the Haiti Relief Nike Cradle Rock Low will not be sold in stores and are very limited in quantity, so if you’re a collector of one-of-a-kind shoes with a heart of gold, this size 12.0 is available right now…
Rocawear put together a PSA announcement, told from the point of view of a Martine Cathune an earthquake survivor, to remind everyone that while the immediate crisis in Haiti is over, the crisis still continues and help is still needed.
They say that time heals all wounds. This is true, in most cases at least, but in the case of Haiti, it’s clear that they’ll need more to get back to normal. The Big Picture once again turned their lenses to the Caribbean island to document life there, this time 70 days after the 7.0 Earthquake. Below is a sampling of their results. Click the images for a larger view…
In Haiti, the survivors of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck about two and a half months ago continue to struggle, with a few signs of hope as international assistance is beginning to make measurable progress, some international debt is being forgiven, and some businesses and institutions start to come back to life. In a country still mourning the loss of a now-estimated 230,000 citizens (on par with the 2004 Indian Ocean quake), over one million people remain housed in makeshift tent cities, uncertain about their future or security. According to a recent draft summary of the Haitian government’s damage and needs assessment, the country will need $11.5 billion to rebuild. Collected here are a handful of recent photographs from Haiti, a country still in need.
A reworking of Langston’s Hughes is returning to NYC next month for performance set to benefit Haiti earthquake relief. The performance will feature The Roots and a host of others and will take place at Lincoln Center. Check out the video below for more info…
From Africa to the Americas, the South to the North, cities to suburbs, opera to jazz, gospel to be-bop, and “shadows to fire”—these are the
pathways of Langston Hughes’s epic and visionary poem cycle ASK YOUR MAMA: 12 MOODS
FOR JAZZ…a remarkable collaboration between Emmy Award-winning composer Laura Karpman and world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman.
The panoramic score weaves a compelling tapestry of orchestral music integrated with recorded
selections drawn from a dozen traditions. Using Hughes’s own voice at the core of the work, this
musical journey includes quotations from Louis Armstrong, Big Maybelle, Pigmeat Markham
and Bill Bojangles, all seamlessly integrated with projected images by Rico Gatson and archival video
as well as Hughes’s vibrant poetry. Annie Dorsen directs performances by Miss Norman, The Roots,
vocalist De’Adre Aziza, mezzo-soprano Tracie Luck, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s conducted
by the esteemed George Manahan.
For more info, and to purchase tickets, visit AskYourMama.com.
Our good friend Kareem Black got in touch with us yesterday with some of the photos taken during his recent visit to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
Kareem and other creative folks from several agencies around New York City spent last week volunteering and documenting the scene on behalf of Healing Haiti and Print for Change.
The near future will likely bring a book on the trip as well as a show here in New York, with proceeds from both going towards the relief effort. In the meantime, check out a few selected photos below…
…Black was candid about life in Haiti, stating, “There’s no garbage disposal, no local police force or army, they burn garbage and bodies, there’s sewage in the streets, pigs eating the sewage, and children playing with the pigs.”
In the midst of volunteering, Black and the others quickly became aware that there was no easy nor permanent solution to the current situation in Haiti. Without money or passports, it is difficult to leave the stricken island. The lack of infrastructure exacerbates problems and housing solutions are still meager as many people camp out in tents.
And yet, “I don’t want to record death and destruction – everybody knows that story,” says Black. Instead, Black chose to focus on the people, especially children, because “[they] are the hope and future of the nation.” He furthers, “I want to give the culture some sort of dignity.”…
K’Naan teams up with a host of Canadian artists, including Drake and Kardinal Offishall, 57 total, to raise money for relief efforts in Haiti. Check out the fruits of their labor below…
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Nike has joined the outpouring of support after Haiti’s earthquake with a tee shirt designed by Haitian-American students in Florida. Check out the details below…
Over a month has passed since the devastating earthquake the shook the small island of Haiti and captivated the entire world. Many countries were quick to lend hands, but in dire situations like these, emotional support is also welcome. Nike Basketball took a trip to Forest Park Elementary School in Southern Florida, a school with a 60% Haitian population, to create a piece of artwork meant sent a message of hope, love and empathy to the Haitian people. The tag line reads ‘Kinbe Pa Lage’, which translates to ‘Hold on tight, don’t let go’. The artwork was placed on a Nike Basketball t-shirt, and was placed for sale at $25 a piece at Nike retailers, with all proceeds going to Mercy Corps and Architecture for Humanity, two of Nike’s partners in the Haitian Relief Effort.
Click the images below for a few more shots of the shirt….
It’s likely that by now you’ve heard about the “We Are The World” remake commissioned by Quincy Jones and Wyclef Jean, especially since Dom posted a bit about it last week. Well, the single is now ready for the world. Check out the video, featuring everyone you can think of, below…
The single is available for purchase now, with all proceeds going towards the relief efforts in Haiti. Click here to buy it on iTunes.
Another cover that hasn’t gotten as much press as the “We Are…” effort is the Simon Cowell-organized “Everybody Hurts” charity single. Check out that video, featuring some of the best artists in the UK, below….
One of, if the best, photoblogs on the internet is Boston.com’s The Big Picture. They recently put together a piece on the continuing aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake. Check out a sampling of the photos below…
Tomorrow (Feb. 2nd) will mark three weeks since the massive January 12th earthquake in Haiti, and tent cities remain full, even as some businesses and factories are beginning to reopen in Port-au-Prince. Now that massive amounts of aid have arrived, distribution problems have cropped up and are being addressed. The World Food Program has begun a new system of delivering rice to 10,000 Haitians per day at each of 16 women-only distribution points around the city - restricted to women, since young men often muscle their way to the front of distribution lines, and the women are viewed as more likely to fairly divide up the food. Aid chiefs and donor nations are warning that Haiti will need at least a decade of painstaking reconstruction.
