5949: Re: 5991: RE: a poem, regarding Ayisyen and photographers , (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lois E Wilcken <makandal-ny@juno.com>

Thank you, Wendy, for the poem.  I'm sure it stirs a variety of memories
for many of us.  People in the neighborhood where I stay in
Port-au-Prince know me well by now, and many ask to have their photos
taken.  But I remember an incident where I wanted to photograph a friend
at his work as a barber.  The man whose hair he was cutting objected. 
"Foreigners," he said, "bring their pictures home to show others our
misery."  It made me realize that I was viewing the scene very
differently from this man.

My friend Chantal Regnault, a professional photographer, remembers
photographing a ditch in Cite Soleil that was especially representative
of the sordid conditions there.  She was conscious of an elderly woman
crouched in a spot nearby watching her.  As Chantal left, the woman said,
"You've been taking pictures of that ditch for fifteen years.  And after
fifteen years, nothing has changed here."

Lois Wilcken
La Troupe Makandal - New York City's #1 Haitian Roots Ensemble
621 Rutland Road, Brooklyn NY 11203
718-953-6638 / makandal-ny@juno.com
www.makandal.org