24573: Hermantin (news) LITTLE HAITI | STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY CAMP

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Sun, Mar. 27, 2005


LITTLE HAITI | STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHY CAMP
STUDENTS SNAP VIEWS OF PIETY IN THE STREETS
FIFTEEN MIAMI EDISON HIGH STUDENTS SPENT SPRING BREAK DOCUMENTING EASTER 
WEEK ON THE STREETS OF LITTLE HAITI
BY KEVIN DEAN
kdean@herald.com

Diego Jeanty walks this block of Little Haiti every day, traveling along 
Northeast 62nd Street to his Upper Eastside home, his uncle's record shop or 
Lemon City Park to play basketball.

But over the past four days, Jeanty has seen this block and his neighborhood 
completely differently -- through the lens of a camera.

He's one of 15 Miami Edison High juniors photographing Little Haiti as part 
of a National Geographic photo camp, sponsored by the National Geographic 
Society, the University of Miami School of Communication and The Herald 
photography staff.

A part of National Geographic's Education Foundation, the photo camps help 
teens in underserved communities produce photo essays similar to the 
''ZipUSA'' feature found in National Geographic magazine. This camp's ZIP 
Code was 33127: Little Haiti.

On Good Friday, the students began at the Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church 
and followed the traditional religious street procession, headed by a man 
shouldering a cross and flanked by men dressed as Roman soldiers.

Singing and shouting scripture in Creole, the church's members walked past 
St. Claire Laundry & Dry Cleaners at Northeast Second Avenue and 62nd 
Street.

AN UNUSUAL DAY

Usually, Jeanty breezes past the bus stop across the street from this 
laundromat, but on this day, he is standing on the roof of the blisteringly 
hot bus stop and photographing the crowd below him -- a sweaty, chanting 
mass of sticky white suits and flowing dresses winding through the streets 
of Little Haiti.

A woman drifted underneath Jeanty, balancing a Bible on top of her head 
while joining in the chants of ''Jesus, Jesus, Where are you, Jesus?'' 
Jeanty crouched and pointed his camera:

Click.

''I'm not religious,'' said Jeanty, hopping off the bus stop and dashing to 
photograph a woman wearing a homemade crown of thorns. ``But this is 
incredible.''

Each morning, the students chatted with photographers from National 
Geographic and The Herald, viewed slide shows of award-winning photography 
and examined shots of their own.

The afternoons were spent on the streets of Little Haiti, the students 
photographing men with felt-tipped, lavender hats eating sugar cane by 
Bernadette Chancy's fruit and vegetable stand while the pros offered nuggets 
of wisdom and technical advice.

''You know what's special about people?'' UM Prof. Lelen Robert asked 
student Tina Francois, who was photographing a woman hunched over a sewing 
machine.

``Their eyes. Look into hers, and you'll find out who she really is. And 
then she's going to look at you and smile.''

WILLING SUBJECTS

On Good Friday, the procession wound past Chancy's stand, where a few 
onlookers sat removed from the chaos.

Sprawled out on a curbside couch, Antoine Jean-Cejuilloume leisurely tips 
back his pink, floppy hat and watches the crowd moving past him.

Just the day before, the man was asleep on the same couch. But now he's 
awake, either from the noisy street procession or because of the bottle of 
gin stashed under his elbow.

Regardless, he's content letting photo campers Linda Therve and Nathalie 
Alcime take a few shots of him.

Excited about the donated Nikon camera in her hand, Therve listened while 
Mark Thiessen, a National Geographic photographer participating in the camp, 
advised her to take three steps closer toward Jean-Cejuilloume.

''I'm a good Catholic, and today is a good day to take my picture,'' 
Jean-Cejuilloume said in Creole while Therve snapped away.

Alcime was chatting with a nearby woman with a big smile, toothy with a 
flash of gold, when they started to laugh and embrace.

''This woman knows my family back in Haiti,'' said a surprised Alcime, who 
left Port-de-Paix two years ago to come to Miami.

``I can't believe I'm photographing her.''