The Family at 22.

Tonight I had the opportunity to photograph an old friend from high school and her little family. We went to a local park and enjoyed the subtle sunset, the gorgeous fall leaves, talking to trees, and trying to sidestep the mud puddles. It was a lovely evening which reminded me of my love for photography. I've been  working so much taking photographs for school pictures which requires little thought and no knowledge of a camera. It pays bills but it is not the artistic outlet for me. Tonight capturing Xiao's little actions and expressions had me smiling all evening. I was glad to get my love back, just in time for Xiao to invite me over for dinner at house 22. He warmed my heart.

"Xiao, how old are you?"

"FIVE!"

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.

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.

Mr and Mrs Frisino

I am finally back to Syracuse. Excited to be back to routine and scared of what comes next; but I'm ready.   Christmas break was an intense time and I spent the majority of it in a camera shop helping my boss and coworkers. I had projects galore, and I was finally able to finish the wedding photos from this fall.   Now, no offense to my other clients, but this past wedding was one of my favorites. Everything fit the bride and groom. It was a relaxing and beautiful wedding for them. They had one of their best friends marry them, their vows were catered to them, and their love was palpable. I think I loved this wedding because it made me feel... at home. I stayed at the grooms parents house because it was a few hours commute to the wedding. The house had such a nostalgic feel to it. It was gorgeous and open and at night there was a perfect view of the stars.   I also had a feeling this wedding would happen like this because I photographed them for an "engagement" shoot.

It was a way to get to know them and for them to see my work a little more. It was also a way to get to know the groom more. I had been friends with the bride, Tegan for a couple of years and we had been in a few classes together. Eric was still a mystery. I love getting to know people and feeling comfortable around them, and these two made it easy for that to happen.

So a big thank you to this couple and their families for making me feel at home.

And the ceremony.

Felted flowers.

Day Catorce

Today was a busy day and I was actually able to eat a little. We jumped right into work, Sarah and Esme actually took some of the kids who always arrive early and reshot some scenes while Oscar and I waited for our whole team to arrive. The kids started doing makeup again and as soon as we could wrangle them all up we started shooting for the day.

Now, it was mentioned that the other team had most of the older kids in it. They were amazing at their jobs and worked really well with one another. One of the challenges we had was in storyboarding our piece. It was really well drawn but there seemed to be some parts missing. So Oscar and I had sat down the night before trying to fix some of the problems. It worked out in the end but it also gave us more work to do.

The scenes we were shooting today were some murders and the green screening of the ghost. For that we brought out a blue table clothe and we took it outside in the brightest light we could find. We got a few kids (and myself) holding it taut against the wall as the ghost was filmed doing all sorts of things. (Later on in post-produciton Oscar would drop him into a scene that was already filmed using aftereffects.) This inspired me to take an aftereffects class this fall!

So the point of today was to get as much filming done as possible. The day involved sewing a head back on, helping the kids remember different camera angles, scratching dogs' ears, and filming, Filming, FILMING galore. It was at the end of this day with that kids that I was starting to see everyones capabilities for this project. Sarah and Esme worked with their group efficiently and confidently. They communicated with the kids well considering their spanish wasn't perfect. Their kids are really starting to get into their roles and the director is realizing that her job is more than just saying cut and action.

As for our group, I am continually in awe of Oscar. He's incredible at giving direction. The way he communicates is amazing because he knows what he's talking about but it's the way he talks with the kids and laughs with them that inspires me. Sometimes I feel useless because I can't speak and I'm still so new to all of this video stuff; but then Oscar gives me the reins and I make a few decisions. His confidence in my abilities moves me to be confident in myself. We continue working with one another and learning from everyone. I am still amazed at this experience. I'm writing this now, and it's been a month since we've been home and I am still enthralled.

After the kids left, we all had work to do. Melissa continues to do the paperwork each night, writing down our successes and stories for the day. The rest of us had editing to do. However, today we were to take a day trip to San Miguel de Allende. We were also supposed to meet with a member of FAI to discuss our experience working with their members.

Note: FAI is an organization that promotes sustainable development of water and natural resources focused on the active participation of those children. FAI and Akosia worked together to make this project a success.

We had to leave early to meet with the people from FAI. We got into the city around 4 and looked for a parking space. Oscar drove separately because he was taking Mauricio's friend in with him and there wasn't enough space in our little car. We decided to meet him somewhere in the town. While looking for a parking space, we pulled over to ask someone where we could park. Sarah rolled down her window, spoke the best spanish she could muster, AND... was pleasantly ignored. While we were laughing, a woman came out of a shop and told us that she owns apartments down the road and that we could park there. She then ran back into the store, grabbed her bags and then hopped into our car so she could show us (and she wouldn't have to walk back in the drizzle). This kind of thing happened to us where ever we went. We always randomly met people who somehow were able to fill our needs.

We walked around the town and found ourselves in this square. The square was filled with people, things being sold, and an interesting twist to a well known snack. There was a snack stand that was selling a bag of doritos, opened, with mayo, butter, corn, hot sauce all mixed in; it is eaten with a spoon then. It was such an odd mixture we spent a lot of time marveling at this concoction. We met with Oscar then who was with the two woman from FAI. After a quick cup of coffee we walked to the FAI offices and they basically asked us about the people at Ceracaly and any suggestions for the future. We talked about how accommodating everyone is. There wasn't really anything we could complain about.

We didn't stay there long, and afterwards we needed to find a place with internet so that we could start editing our videos, which was going to take a lot of time. We found a place that had a restaurant on the roof. So we walked upstairs, turned a corner, and saw the most amazing view. It literally might be the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. The one wall most mostly just glass, it looked down some mountains and on them was the city of San Miguel. To the right was a giant golden church; and to make it even more beautiful a storm was rolling in on the left of the scene as the twilight sky changed colors. I stared at it in awe as massive lightning bolts struck and I watched the rain downpour across the valley while the sky stayed dry above us. Everyone else was checking facebook, emailing, and Sarah had even started editing, but I just couldn't take my eyes off that scene.

Eventually I did get to work. I watched, still in amazement, as Oscar zigzagged around in AfterEffects trying out different things and creating the "ghost" in our movie. It was really amazing watching it transform and I was thankful to be able to watch someone who confidently navigated that program.

Much later the woman who let us park in her apartment area came to the restaurant we were at and introduced us to her husband and chatted with us for a while. They asked if we were staying in the town and offered us a room with them. We told them we were driving back, (I was driving and had passed on a drink). It's sort of funny but they kept pushing us to stay, they didn't think it was safe to drive at night. Of course we were perfectly fine and we had to go back to Ceracaly to teach the ninos in the morning.

We thanked them for their generosity and then made our way back. Everyone here seems anxious to drive at night, but we don't understand why. When we got back Oscar and I planned what we needed to shoot the next day and then we all went to bed.

Day Trece

Today we were back with the kids. It was a day we had planned to be full of filming, and since we were behind schedule from Friday we decided there should be no english lesson. Once everyone came, we split into the two groups and instructed everyone to finish storyboards, handing out roles, sorting out props, and location scouting. Things got really chaotic with people running to the bathroom, girls changing their outfits for the films, kids running around looking for places to film. It was nuts.

Around 11 everyone was mostly ready to shoot, and all of us coaches were very eager to start shooting because we know how long it really takes. Esme and I talked about working with both groups and basically having Sarah and I switch back and forth with Oscar and Esme so we would always be with someone who spoke Spanish really well. In the end, Oscar and I went with the group doing the horror movie. Once we got working with this group however it was really hard to switch to the other groups. We knew what things needed to be shot and we knew the story really well. Therefore Oscar and I became the producers of the terror movie and Sarah and Esme worked with the kids on the drama movie.

It took a little bit of time to get started shooting because we were working with a much younger age group. They had shorter attention spans and a lot of the young girls wanted to draw on the white boards or wander off. Eventually we set up a policy that if they weren't directly active with the movie scene, they were to go help Melissa with the signs and CD cover drawings.

The first day we actually got a lot of shooting done, as in 9 scenes. It was amazing doing the very first scene though. With the silent films, they kids pretty much shot each scene once. However, with these films, we did the first scene once. Then we did it again at a different angle. If something was off, we did it again. It the acting wasn't perfect we shot it again. I think the kids appreciated the amount of work that goes into filming that first day.

We finished with the kids on time and sent them home. We went to eat and I believe I went to go take a nap. I hadn't slept the night before. Today was the day we were supposed to go horseback riding. Unfortunately I talked to Fernando at lunch and he told Oscar and I that the only horses available were race horses, therefore we wouldn't be able to ride them.

Which ended up being a good thing because I was still sick.

There were some things that we needed from town, so the girls went out. I stayed in. Esme and Sarah's group needed a time lapse of the sunset and there was no guarantee I'd make it back in time so I stayed, set my camera on a chair overlooking the countryside and did a time lapse. I'm actually mad that I didn't do this sooner, or for more days. By the time we thought of it, I really only had one night to do it and sometimes it can be hard to guess what area is going to have the best lighting, clouds, colors, etc. It was such a beautiful 'moment,' the sunset. I'm glad I captured a piece of that night.

(Photos with myself in them were taken by Sarah Wann © 2012)

Post Script, I'll post the time lapse when I get a computer that can edit video, which should be soon!