Westpoint

Day 5 It's 2013. This year has been intense. Today I finally got to experience Ethiopian food. We took a walk to Ken's favorite place and sat on the porch. He pretty much ordered for us since we had no idea what to get. We got some meat dish and a vegetable dish along with some ethiopian coffee. The coffee was different from the lebanese. Still good, but I think I loved the lebanese coffee the most.

Please enjoy this demonstration of how to eat Ethiopian food by Ken Harper:

It comes out on one plate and there are no utensils. You use Injera, a sponge like bread to grasp the different parts of the dish. We learned there's actually a lot of protein in Injera?

Step 1: Tear off a piece of the Injera

Step 2: Grasp the food. (Can't go wrong, it all tasted good)

Step 3: Make a small pouch of said food that is able to be eaten in a bite or two.

Step 4: Make this face as you enjoy the deliciousness. Welcome to Liberia's Ethiopian food.

It's distinct flavors and textures and overall it was an enjoyable experience.

After lunch, Jess, Jim, and I called David and asked him to take us to various points around the city to scope things out and to start gathering some b-roll. David picked us up and took us to the first place.

It was a little hike down a rocky passage and it looked right out onto the cliff. We enjoyed the view and actually started taking some photos of some people that lived there. We met a woman and her two children  and we were able to photograph them. It was really incredible. I feel like all we have to do is just treat these people like they are humans. Living, breathing, real people. That's all they are. Just like myself. Just like your enemy, your president, your dentist. We feel the same things and we love the same way. So I don't understand how people can't see that. I also realized that I adore kids. I mean, look at his little face.

So we piled into the car and drove to David's second place: Westpoint. Westpoint is the poorest place in Monrovia. People live on top of each other all jammed into a section that borders the Mesurado River. There is only one road to get through and there are only a few strategic places a car can turn around. His little franken-car did incredible well driving over rocks and ruts.

David took us through the road and we were stared at mostly. The three of us are amazing at keeping our smiles up, encouraging people to remember that we are people too. Mostly we can get the kids to smile. They are excited to see us. We got out of the cab then and walked through some narrow allies where people were making bread, hanging clothes, washing babies and playing soccer. It's an area filled with the energy of kids and resilient faces on the adults. We walked to the edge of the river and the kids looked on curiously at us, not sure what to think. David climbed onto the colorful canoe that was tied up, floating in the river. Jim and Jess were a little more hesitant to step up there, so I of course climb up and start walking down it carefully balancing so my photo equipment didn't fall into the water and sink to the depths. The other two followed suit. I'm not sure if Jim let go of the mast the whole time we were on the boat, but I think we all enjoyed it because it was the first time Liberians wanted their photo taken. Two bold boys, maybe seven or eight years old, swam in the river and called out "FLASH ME."

We photographed them and they climbed into the canoe and started doing tricks and jumping off. I looked down into the water and drifting beneath us was garbage floating in the river; old tires, plastic bags, containers, just drifting silently under us only to be disrupted by the kids jumping and splashing into the river.

We shook hands with older guys and chatted with them. I laughed at the kids jumping in and was open with the people we met. As we walked off the canoe the kids on the land had warmed up and they wanted to be photographed too. So we all took turns shooting with our different lenses the different people. It was a crazy place and the kids were essentially playing in garbage, with garbage. They didn't care though. Boys swam naked still at an age where they are unapologetic to who they are. They gathered around for group photos and then raced  to us to look at them.

We spent some time with young fishermen, one of which tried introducing me to his mother. She ran away when she saw my camera. they were goofy and posed on each other and with us. Everyone we met there made us smile.

I hope my pictures can give you some idea as to what it was like. But like I have mentioned before, there's nothing like the real experience. It's an assault on the senses, I couldn't open my eyes wide enough and take everything in.

Finally David took us to the beach. We wanted to record B-roll of the sun setting over the water. There were a ton a people around us and we tried our tactic of allowing them to press the buttons and take some photos of us before we made some photos of them. These kids were super excited to show off their talents to us and see the different photos of each other. We got mobbed by all kinds of young kids talking to us.

I walked to the edge of the water and I remember thinking it was the first day of the year 2013. I started thinking about the different things I've seen in the 23 years I've lived and the opportunities I've been presented with. It was an introspective moment for me and I was very optimistic for myself and for the project we had agreed to tackle in Liberia. It's only the beginning.

Closing 2012

Day 4 It's New Years Eve. We slept in once again. I have a feeling once we actually need to start waking up early, it's going to be rough. We had a lunch meeting at 2 so we took the time before that to try out some audio equipment and practice our interviewing skills on one another. It was a good idea because we all made mistakes, so now we just need to learn from them.

We went to a hotel to meet and eat with the Fellows and we were starving since we had yet to eat that day. However we had to wait for the others to get there so it was about an hour before we got some food in us. I had lebenese coffee which is, to date, the best cup of coffee i have ever had. For my meal I had hummus, olive oil, and pita bread. It was incredible.

So we finally met the main female journalists that are the focus of our stories. There's Wade, we met her the other day, Mae (my story), Teetee, and Teecee, and also Chase the graphic designer was there as well. We talked with them all about their stories and their lives. I really connected with Teetee I think. She was excited for 2012 to be over, she said there were too many deaths this year. Most people who want 2012 over are upset over the end of a relationship or a bad grade or two. These woman have dealt with some real issues and it's inspiring being in their presence.

Mae is quite a character. She sort of ligths a room with her presence. She's loud and opinionated but i like that about her. She's got some fire in her soul. I'm excited to work with her and learn from her.

I talked to Chase a lot during the lunch because he and I both have fine arts in common. It was an enjoyable meal and we got to share some of our stories with the woman and let them see who we are and trust us.

After lunch, we walked to the grocery store to pick up some waters and maybe snack or something.

There was a whole congregation of people outside there asking for money, some couldn't walk.

Ken is an incredible person and he almost always tries to buy an extra bag of rice to give to someone less fortunate out there. This time it was a guy in a wheel chair who started eating the rice raw out of the bag.

That made me stop and think.

Teetee was going to be on a news show that recapped the top stories of 2012 and invited two of us to come and watch the recording of it. Meanwhile Jim was asked to hang out with Wade and take some photos on the beach with her. So we split up with David taking us across the city. On the way there were say a giant fight break out in the middle of the road that we were supposed to go down. I saw people wailing on each other. David put the car in reverse and just started driving backwards down the street until we hit a side street and then we went around the giant fight.

On this trip we saw a lot of garbage on the streets and people out partying for the new year. Jess and I finally made it to the tv station and we got to sit in and watch Teetee. She was articulate and professional. It was really amazing watching her and we also got to go behind the scenes and see the men working in the back. We were there for a little over and hour and a half and at the end we talked to Teetee about new years in Liberia. They go to church that night for about 4 hours and bring in the new year in church. Then they all go out dancing and partying. Rodney says the party lasts for days into the new year as well.

Afterwards David picked us up and took us to "Miami Beach" where Ken had met up with a friend of his and some of her friends. We introduced ourselves and sat around a table on the beach listening to the ocean and musing about life. It was an hour into the night when I found out that Ken's friend Nora, her boyfriend is the most famous rapper in Liberia, Takun J. We were also hanging out with another famous musician in the group, but not as famous as him. People kept coming up to him and kissing his hands. Turns out the music playing at this beach was his new album and everyone was jamming out to it. It was a pretty surreal night.

At midnight I yelled it out and we all got up and hugged each other. Jess said she was going to run into the ocean and I told her I would come to. We literally ran down to the ocean and starting running into the water. I was marveling at my life at that point. It was kind of amazing to bring in the new year by dancing in the atlantic ocean, in Africa. The water was ridiculously warm too.

I just have to add that I also lost a flip flop in the ocean.

We stayed a little longer and then I hopped back to David's cab so we could go to the hotel. I finally got to talk to my parents and wish them a happy new year.

Visiting Front Page Africa

Day 3

It was a day of relaxation. (sort of) We woke up around 11 and got ready to go out. We walked to a hotel and had some food from there. I had a kebab and it was different from the kebabs in Germany and Austria. Jess had hummus and it might be the best hummus I've ever had. I also had mango juice and Ken and Jess had this Lebanese coffee or something like that. apparently it was really good.

This is our new kitten friend. we take turns tossing him french fries. So sweet!

We hung out there for about an hour and a half until we found out they don't have internet. So we walked over to Dona Maria's, the pizza and ice cream shop.

We did some research on the journalists and picked people we will be following around and getting more of their story. I have Mae who is incredibly famous in Liberia. She's had to go into hiding a few times because of the controversy of her stories. We had "ice cream" at Dona Marias, but it looked like gelato and it tasted like the most fake strawberry thing I've ever had. like a lip balm and ice cream mixed together.

At around 5 we left to go to Front Page Africa and meet people and take a look around.

We met Rodney Sieh and Wade Williams, another journalist. We got to see the printing presses and shake hands with a lot of people who work there. We got an idea of what their days are like by talking to Wade. She's an awesome and inspiring woman who raises two daughters and works 10-14 hours a day a few days a week. She likes to do stories on governmental issues. Rodney has gone to jail a few times for various stories as well. Both are really inspiring.

After we stood and talked to them for a few hours, we left and stopped at a place for some food. They got my order wrong, so I'm not sure what I ate but it was chicken and potatoes and garlic wrapped up. it was delicious. We ate with David, our driver. Dinner discussions ranged from religion to New Narratives. This is a really good, insightful group that I'm with. After we got back to the hotel we went through our audio gear and tried to figure things out and synchronize everything.

Fingers crossed I don't screw up the audio. I'm a year ahead of the other two in school despite me being younger, so I definitely feel like it's on my shoulders.

We have stereo mics, zoom h4ns, lav mics, and a shotgun mic. We have the stuff, we just have little to none training. So I guess we'll see how everything goes.

Mental Photographs

There are a few things I want to explain before I go on further. The next day or two there aren't any photos. This is because Liberians do no like their photo taken. They are a post-war country and they had so many things taken away from them that many only have control over their image. Some think if you take their photo, you're going to go home and become rich on their image while they don't necessarily have the basic necessities.  

Therefore we all decided to take a day or two of exploring Monrovia without our cameras, of getting a feel of the people and the place.

Day 2

Woke up pretty late in the day today. Either 11:30 or 12:30. I showered* and we paid for our rooms. Ken told us to kind of set aside some money we'd spend for the day and then layer it so we're not opening our purse or digging for the money.

[*showers are a little different here. They are only cold water, which doesn't really matter because it's 90 degree every day and humid. There's a four inch lip on the shower that you have to finish washing before it overflows. There are no long showers at this place. I started showering every night to at least be able to sleep clean and every night heat just poured out of my hair. It's definitely something you get used to quickly, the speedy showers, the cold water mixing with your body heat as they run down your back together]

We walked to lunch down the road at Dona Marie's, a place that makes pizzas and ice cream. Jess and I split a medium vegetable pizza. We sat in there trying to refuel a bit before our long walk we were about to take.

Then we just started walking. We walked down the main road which was busy with businesses and people. We traveled by the University of Liberia. We talked to a few students around there. Everyone dresses  up when they go to school. I originally thought we were passing a church when we saw all the people dressed up but then I realized it was for school.

We saw the river. We saw lizards. We walked and saw kids that chanted WHITE PEOPLE! as they danced up and down. We smelled various things that will never be able to capture the scene we were in.  sometimes we saw signs that said only dogs can peepee here. There are people selling all kind of things here. little girls carrying these giant buckets on their head that contain fruits or water or milk.

I'm telling you all of this because right now, I have not taken any photos of the culture. it's a delicate situation. Right now we are just adjusting to the culture, figuring things out, and seeing what comes of it.

Therefore, I'll have to describe walking down a road and having people stick out their hands and touch us, talk to us, or just stare at us.

As we started walking towards the Atlantic Ocean, we were sort of stopped by a group of drummers and dancers. It was this really cool african music. There was this guy all dressed up head to toe dancing and apparently warding off bad spirits. They were looking to be paid a couple of bucks so ken gave him a few and we tried to walk away but there was this guy who stood in front of us and started putting nails in his nose. Then he opened his mouth and showed us a razor blade and he quickly started hitting his tongue with it and then contracted the muscle in his tongue and it started bleeding. He was sort of playing with that blood and at this point I wanted to get away from him so Jim gave him a buck and we quickly walked out of there. That guy was a creep and he definitely left an impression on me.

At this point we had walked miles in the heat and I was paying for it. My stupid legs weren't used to working this hard in the winter and they had burned and swelled in the heat. I paid for that over the next few days.

We were growing tired so we walked to this ocean hotel to view the ocean and the sun and to eat sushi. The view was gorgeous and we talked about weird things and ate really good sushi.

These are nuts, but they call them dirt peas. One of my favorite names even if I didn't get to enjoy them!

We watched the sun set. Each night that we witnessed this event the sun disappeared before the horizon. Such a beautiful sight.

The Commute to Liberia

Dec. 27th and 28th I'm sitting here in Brussels, Belgium. We have officially been traveling for about 17 hours and there is still another 12 to go? I think. It will be the end of the 28th when we finally arrive.

I started the day off digging my truck out of snow in Alden, NY. We got somewhere between 12 and 16 inches of snow last night. My brother's car got stuck at the end of the driveway and I was lucky enough to only get a little stuck.

Security was odd. I was asked if I was bringing anything weird on my trip like dry ice or bleach. they also frisked me and my zoom H4N had to be rescanned in security.

The first flight was slightly delayed by about an hour, but it otherwise went smoothly. I landed in DC with just enough time to get to my gate and have boarding start for Belgium. I kept looking around trying to find Ken or Jim, (I have their phone numbers and not the girls). Finally I saw Jess. They had JUST made it to the gate. We boarded that flight wondering if we could sit by one another, but that didn't end up happening. I sat next to two woman and we nonverbally communicated as I fixed the sound on the ones computer and helped the older one work her buckle on the seatbelt. I also met a guy in the airport who invited me to visit Kenya which is where he was from.

The Flight was okay with some turbulence, relatively good food, and some great movie selections. I watched pitch perfect, the perks of being a wallflower, and now is good. All were good movies if not slightly depressing.

When we landed in Brussels, at about 2 a.m. (8 a.m. for them) we walked around scoping things out. We didn't have to go through customs here because we didn't leave. So we got breakfast: Belgium beer and a chocolate covered waffle. Classy and Belgiumy.

Left is Ken, middle is Jess, and right is Jim.

Anyways, now we're waiting for the last flight. It's longer than the last flight plus we have an hour and a half drive to the hotel, not to mention customs. I have a feeling we're all going to dive into bed tonight.

Got on the flight to go to Monrovia, I put my camera bag and tripod in the overhead bin, sit down, and WHACK my tripod falls on my head. It instantly brought tears to my already tired eyes. So here I am, 23, overtired, and holding my head crying on a very puplic plane. It was a sad moment.

Anyways, I got up and found a steward and tried explaining that a heavy metal object fell on my head. He spoke english but guided me to another steward who was in charge of medical things. Unfortunately he mostly spoke german and I had to pantomime something falling on my head before he checked it out. I had a massive lump and a small cut that was bleeding. He gave me a paper bag filled with ice and I sat down.

It's okay that you're laughing, there are several things that are ridiculous in this and I'm just going to leave them be (but DAMN, that hurt).

This flight went fast, as I was drifting in and out of consciousness. JUST KIDDING. I mean I slept during it.

We actually landed in Abidjan (the Ivory Coast). Then we were stuck there because there were computer problems for the new arrivals. We were delayed of course for about 1-2 hours.

FINALLY we landed in Monrovia, Liberia.

We took the first step outside the plane and the warm air hit us. We walked inside in the customs line and that was nice and easy.

Then it was time to jump into battle, aka get our suitcases. It was a small room that was stuffy from the heat packed with people trying to find their bags and others who were working. People were yelling and crowding around this tiny conveyer belt. Suitcases were falling on people, some people were just trying to walk through with no avail. I had a bag fall on me in all the chaos.

Then once we got our bags we had to "check out" as in prove they were ours, and then go through another customs and explain why we were there. We got outside and Ken (bossman) was immediately hugged by David, our driver.

Now he had told us to not accept help with our luggage from anyone so I was lugging, my 20 lb camera bag, my 45 lb suitcase, my 37lb camera rig, and another 15lb bag. In other words my spine was being crushed. So a guy took my bags and started helping despite me telling him not to. Everyone else handled their bags well, and I shuffled on after mine to make sure the guy who had them was with David.

The drive was peaceful. The windows were down and a cool breeze was hitting our faces mingling with the smell of gasoline. We got to our hotel, checked in, and then went out in search of some food.

Most of the people we've met tonight have been nice. A lot said hi as we walked to dinner. This one guy came up and hugged Ken. I swear Ken is Liberian celebrity status.

Dinner was at this dance club. I decided to only drink water since my skin was tingling and I thought that was maybe a bad sign. I had this chicken dish called chicken schwarma, that came with pickles, fries, a pita and chicken! it was good. My friend Jess's meal never came out, so we each shared some of our meals with her.

We walked home talking.

Need sleep now.

Ridiculous resolution and retina

So, I have mentioned before that I am currently in Africa. Monrovia, Liberia to be exact. It's been a little over a week and I feel as I am just getting the rhythm of life over here. On this trip, my school, who I'm doing this through/with, let us borrow some equipment to be able to work over here. We each got a Nikon d800 and some audio equipment. I was a little disgusted with the size of the RAW images that the d800 takes. (I'm not even sure if I was disgusted in a good or bad way) For example, I think one file for the d800 at the highest resolution was 75 mb. I suppose if you have the space, it doesn't really matter. So I was sorting through my photographs today and I came across this photo of this little boy Kwaku with a beautiful reflection in his eyes. I was in Lightroom, so I zoomed in 1:1. It was a crisp and clear reflection of myself. I zoomed in farther, 3:1 and was astounded at the clarity of the reflection. There I could see myself, my classmates, Jim and Jess, and my professor sitting in a chair. See for yourself.

The clarity is astounding and I was pleased for an example to give people who are thinking about investing in a d800. They are incredible studio cameras with the ability to blow up for large scale prints. I believe the image size for a tiff I was working on was 170 inches by 95 inches, and I know they can be much much larger in size as well. Once again, I agree with the statement that d800's make spectacular studio cameras. They might not be ideal for travel because they are heavier and slower that the d600 but I'm appreciating the full frame on this trip!

I would also like to take a moment and say I recently bought a new macbook this past fall. I was using one from 2007, a computer that wouldn't update nor would it run Final Cut X or some other programs. I kept having to borrow a macbook pro and I felt guilty always taking their computer. So this year I decided to invest. I researched the hell out of the regular macs vs the retina, the ibook vs the MacBooks, etc. It was a long process, but after looking at my blog, side to side, one with the retina and one without I realized I needed the one with. After all it's probably the most useful for people like myself who work on images, photos, or designs. This new MacBook Pro uses 2880x1800, which equals a more than 5 Megapixel image. In terms of sharpness, it figures out to almost 221 pixels per inch. It's ridiculously sharp. I can only describe it by saying my photos are so vivid and sharp they almost look wet on the screen. If you're a photographer, it's worth the extra money to see your photos on the retina screen, in my opinion. Maybe I'm just trying to justify this decision, but I'm happy with the one I made.

Anyways, I am in Monrovia until Friday just trying to soak all of this in until then. Internet here is like it was in 1999, so I haven't been able to upload large amounts of photographs. I encourage you to be patient until my return. These photos and stories are worth the wait. Hope everyone is enjoying their new year. It's a clean slate, so try and make your life a positive one! Happy New Year everyone.

A breath of Liberia

This place is amazing. Sitting on the second floor and it's completely open, like a treehouse. A breeze is blowing and you can hear the buzz of commotion below as people commute to work. A sign says feel free to read, offering books and there are games too. To my left, I look to a rooftop where a young man helps his mother hang the wash on the line. The sun is bright so it won't take long for the clothes to dry.

It's a quiet time. I'm not rushed to lug my back around the city following Mae and her stories. I'm not running to ingest images that I've taken of the day. Right now, time is paused and I am enjoying my cup of coffee in a grown up tree fort.