Monday, September 13th, 2010
Workshop Submission: Atonin Kratochvil, September 20-21, 2010 – Jonathan Lucas Auch
Haiti Earthquake – 2010
On January 12, 2010 a devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook Haiti. The destruction was massive and completely dismantled any preexisting Haitian infrastructure, reducing both the UN Headquarters and the Capital building to ruins. In the wake of the crisis people struggle to survive; sleeping on the street or in make-shift tents, most without food, water or medical assistance. The event has left over 200,000 dead and millions homeless.
In the ruins of the 'Iron Market' (Marche de Fer), looters and scavengers sell and exchange the goods which they have recovered from the rubble.
A young boy is nearly trampled as scavengers and looters attempt to recover goods from the rubble in downtown Port-Au-Prince. No one stops to offer assistance.
Scavengers and looters attempt to recover goods from the rubble in downtown Port-Au-Prince.
A police officer shoots to disperse a crowd of scavengers, looters and residents in downtown Port-Au-Prince.
A very crowded line of people will stand smashed together for more than 15 hours to obtain money transfers from people abroad.
Living on the street, a mother and daughter sleep in the central square of Champ De Mars in Port-Au-Prince which has turned into an open air refugee camp with over 10,000 people.
Worshipers caught in shadow give a ghostly feel to this scene where Haitians seek answers and deliverance from the recent chaos.
A young woman, injured in the quake, lives with her family in a camp on Delmas 33, a converted soccer park, now home to thousands of IDP's.
A 6-month old baby lost her arm during the quake. Doctors without Borders (MSF France) is caring for the child at a field hospital they improvised on Delmas 33.
The corpse of a representative of the Soccer Federation of Haiti lies crushed by a pillar which killed him when the soccer headquarters collapsed.
A man deconstructs a collapsed structure hoping to determine if something of value can be salvaged from the rubble.
A battery powered barbershop is open for business at the 'Petionville Club' IDP camp, while trash from 10,000 refugees burns in the distance.
Recovering his paints from the rubble, a painter represents the last two weeks on canvas.
The 'Petionville Club', formally a 9-hole golf course and country club for the Haitian elite, has been converted into a IDP camp where more than 10,000 people live.
Two young girls travel down a trash-strewn path at The 'Petionville Club', once territory reserved for Haiti's rich but now home to the poor and dispossessed.
NYC Gaza Protests
In January 2009 the government of Israel launched an offensive in Gaza which resulted in 1,450 Palestinians deaths, 5,000 injured and a massive destruction of infrastructure. The attacks were condemned by the international community including the United Nations Rights Consul. Emergency protests and rallies sprung up all over the world, hundreds of thousands gathered in major world cities, including but not limited to; Paris, London, Madrid, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Athens. These photographs were shot in two such similar protests in New York City.
Wasteland – Charcoal Production in Haiti
Once a lush island covered in trees Haiti is now 98 percent deforested. Twenty million trees are felled each year to meet the demand for the island’s primary fuel source; charcoal. The poor have little choice but to continue to produce and burn charcoal as it is essential to the most basic of needs. The Haitian government has no environmental regulations and provides no subsidiaries for alternative fuels, which has led to a situation of environmental catastrophe. During the rainy season nutrient rich topsoil washes away into the sea making it impossible to grow food and hundreds die from flash flooding. Haiti is quickly reaching an irrecoverable state where the majority of the island will succumb to desertification and become inhabitable.
A lone figure surveys the patchwork landscape. Desperate for fuel and income the poor chop down 10 million to 20 million trees each year.
A hillside stands bald and barren scarred from years of deforestation. Charcoal production and logging has left Haiti's countryside in ruins and today only 1.4% of Haiti's land remains forested.
A worker cuts down a rare old growth tree to make room for a government funded 'park'. This particular tree will be chopped into smaller pieces and turned into charcoal.
An older charbonnière. Worker's ages range from as young as 10 to as old as 80.
The 'charbonnière' (charcoal workers) make deliveries in Port-au-Prince from the market in Les Arcahaie. Charcoal is used for 76 percent of Haitis energy needs and must be delivered daily to meet demand.
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