Well I haven't been on here in a long long time. A lot of things have been happening since the last time I posted something on my blog, the world it taking shape and opportunities are revealing themselves. I recently was offered a full time job to shoot for Luminosity Creative in Miami, Fl. This postion consist of traveling through out South America and some travel in Europe to photograph for Diageo, a company of Johnny Walker. I also am able to shoot my own photography under my company when time allows so I can continue servicing my current and potential clients. For this job I was recently sent to San Salvador, El Salvador to photograph the damage done by hurricane Ida and to photograph relief aid provided by Diageo.
My first impression of El Salvador was a poverty stricken place with an amazing natural beauty sprouting from its land and its people. Sadly the city of San Salvador is a very polluted place, with exhaust billowing from every tail pipe forming in a hazy layer of carbon monoxide through out the city. The city its self is a barricaded and guarded place, with security on most nice homes and places of substantial business. The security consists of one guy sitting in a chair holding an automatic shotgun just waiting for some action and they most likely see action from time to time, as San Salvador is home to some notorious gangs like Mara Salvatrucha aka MS-13. Most homes have German razor wire nestled atop a cinder block wall surrounding the entire home.
This is a very small country consisting of 7.2 million people, the most populated country in Central America with 1.5 million people in San Salvador with a majority residing in poverty. I suppose in times of desperation people take desperate measures hence having guards with shotguns and razor wire everywhere. I kept thinking as we drove around the city, how bad would it have to get before I resorted to breaking in to peoples homes? I'm positive I would never take that measure I would like to think I would be more resourceful than that,but I have never and probably never will experience poverty like that other than from the window of a rented car.
As I stated before I was there to photograph the destruction that hurricane Ida left behind, during this particular storm 200 people lost their lives and 15,000 families were affected. We traveled ( the video team and I) into these affected areas. We pulled into a small town hit by the hurricane, roads were washed out, debris everywhere with branches and garbage strewn about ,it reminded me of a dried up dirty river bed but the river bed was the actual road into town. We pulled up to a small cluster of houses nestled in the forest right next to a 150 ft hill, a perfect place for a landslide. I photographed a house in which a man had died. This house was butted right up next to the hill, awaiting for the careening earth from above, an unstoppable river of soil and rock ripped right through his house and took his life. It was a bit strange photographing the personal items of man who had died in the very room I was standing in only a few short weeks ago, knowing his family was somewhere near. As I climbed the landslide and stood at the top looking down it was a painful reminder of how we are at the mercy of mother nature and we are helpless when she is in full force. After photographing for a while we continued to down the road to the community center we I was to photograph relief aid being handed out to this community.
Arriving to the location it was a scene that gave me a feeling of hope and sadness. It was a great thing to see people getting aid in the form of food,medicine, bedding and on-site medical aid and being a part of a company like Diageo. Actually having a part in it made me feel quite good I must say. I also felt a kind of sadness knowing that these people have lost everything they own and in some cases lost those closest to them. I saw two women break down and cry explaining their situation, one of these women being the wife of the man that was killed in the house I was photographing earlier. That was an incredible thing to experience , I wanted to give her a hug and tell her everything is going to be alright. Perhaps I should have but I had work to do and kept my distance I figured that would be the best for both of us. I also noticed a great resilience in this community, these people have been through so much and yet everyone found a way to keep a smile on their faces despite their dark times.
