In a little under four days, I'm flying to the Dominican Republic with a group of William & Mary students, alumni, and one faculty member. The group - The Dominican Aid Society - is led by Mark Ryan (@RichmondDoc), local family practice physician, VCU faculty member, and fellow W&M alum. I met Mark and his wife, Janet, a few months back at a meeting of local, idealistic grads of my alma mater. We had all been at school around the same time, but most of us didn't know each other there. Over our beers/ciders, Mark suggested that perhaps I might be suited to humanitarian photojournalism, specifically as documentarian for the next Dominican Aid medical outreach trip to Paraíso, north of Santo Domingo. I was pretty floored. It sounded crazy, and compelling, and completely right. Dan and I knew very quickly that we would make the trip work. I'm honored to be joining this group of physicians, medical and pharmacy students, and undergraduates. I'm excited to work alongside them as much as I'm able, and to document both their work and their relationships within the community there.
Read more about William and Mary's Student Organization for Medical Outreach and Sustainability (SOMOS) here and about their partner organization, Honduras Outreach Medical Brigada Relief Effort (HOMBRE) here.
If all goes well and the internets comply, I should (hopefully) be blogging during the trip as well as after it. Some entries may be here and some may be on the Dominican Aid Society blog. I have set up a flickr photo set (currently empty) and will add to it either during or after the trip.
There are a lot of trivial and not-so-trivial things in my head. First, the trivial:
- Eep, this is my first international travel (Niagara Falls, twice, doesn't count) and this is my first passport (pictured above). I've seen a lot of the States but not a lot of the rest of the world. I feel a little sheepish about that. Better late than never, I guess.
- My Spanish, or what is left of it, is in pretty lousy condition. Ayúdame.
- Can I really pack for 8 days in one carry-on? Each of us is taking 2 carry-ons so that our cargo space can be used for medical supplies. One of my 2 will be my camera bag, so one small bag is it for everything else I want/need, including clothing, a book for the plane, toilettries, chargers and cables for phone/camera/flash/ipod, and my laptop.
- Will my camera bag make it through security without much of a fuss? Will a gorillapod look suspicious to TSA agents? Should I leave it at home? Will I get the enhanced pat-down?
Less-trivial:
- How will the kids and Dan do for over a week sans mama/spouse? Yes, I know they'll survive, but will it go smoothly or will there be tears? Will solo parenting for a week drive Dan over the brink? Will my in-laws, who have graciously offered half-day kid care so Dan doesn't have to take full days off work, never want to sit for us again? This is the longest no-Jess stretch the kids and Dan have ever had, and the only one they've had at home.
- How will re-entry go? Should I send them back to school on Monday the 9th, which would otherwise be their first day back after winter break?
Not so trivial:
- How will I balance documentation of the clinicians' and researchers' work with sensitivity to the rights/personhood of the members of the Paraíso community?
That's actually a huge issue, and one that can get pretty complicated. The easiest thing to do, of course, is not to question it. Don't think, just get the shot.
The ethical thing to do, of course, is much more complicated. Do I want to deal with model releases (probably should, but there are practical issues to consider and the honest truth is that many people don't)? What preconceived notions of the DR do I have? What stereotypes of poverty do I carry with me? Will those affect what I notice and how I compose a photo? Is it necessary to document physical manifestations of illnesses not commonly found in the States? How can one do that with sensitivity to the person with the illness? How will the photos be used? Would I feel differently about the photos if they represented people I know, in similar contexts?
One of the difficulties of travel photography and humanitarian photography is the temptation to allow preconceived notions to color what we capture. Another, related difficulty is that of objectifying the subject of a photo, dehumanizing them. Are they a person with context, or a photographic prop? Are we interested in their story, or using them to manipulate the viewer?
Most of you are probably familiar with the use of close-up portraits of dark-skinned children to symbolize desperation and need. The photos are tragically beautiful and the children seem to beseech us to come to their aid. The beauty is usually emphasized with glowing natural light, shallow depth of field (blurring the background), and a pop of color, usually in the form of a brightly-painted wall or the child's clothing. This type of photography is sometimes referred to as "poverty porn". It evokes pity without any reference to the agency of the person depicted in the photo. This kind of poverty photography and travel photography both show a heavy reliance on employing cultural stereotypes and treating members of marginalized communities as exotic and "other". In poverty porn, they are additionally depicted as helpless and lost rather than intelligent people capable of working toward self-sufficiency. What does this say about our perception of the world and of ourselves as privileged benefactors? How does this shape the kind of aid that we provide?
Among my challenges will be documenting Paraíso's need for assistance without denying the individuality and dignity of the people there, and documenting their relationships with the SOMOS team without playing up local culture as exotic. I know that this is also important to the team I will be working with, and I'm hoping that at some point, we can discuss some of these ideas.
I've been reading far more viewpoints on humanitarian photojournalism, SOMOS, and human rights than I can sum up here. If you're interested, a sampling of what I've recently read is below:
blog posts about SOMOS from W&M Prof. David Aday
Child Rights Information Network: The use of images of children in the media
GoodIntents.org: Advertising images tell you a lot about an aid agency
Granta: How to Write About Africa (satire)
Unite for Sight: Ethics and Photography in Developing Countries
Picturing Change: Working as a humanitarian photographer - ethics and images
National Press Photographers Association: Code of Ethics
National Geographic: How they found NG's "Afghan Girl"
Exploitation of one's subjects isn't new. The Independent: de Ribera, Jusepe: The Boy with the Club Foot
Luc Delahaye: Biljana Yrhovac wounded by a shell, Bosnia
Stuff White People Do: Travel to exotic locations, meet adorable children, and shoot them
Sociological Images: Travel, privilege, and the crush of the tourist gaze/
bell hooks, Eating the Other: Desire or resistance
Sociological Images: Etnic curiosities: the trouble with tourism
Aid Thoughts: Thoughts on the definition of poverty porn
Aid Thoughts: What is 'poverty porn' and why does it matter for development?
United Nations: list of human rights issues
