The scale of the damage caused by the earthquake that struck Haiti a year ago is fairly evident physically. Potholed roads, collapsed buildings, raw sewage and rubbish everywhere. (Though the rubbish issue is more to do with it never being collected). The capital Port-au-Prince being so close to the epicentre was near levelled. What cannot be guaged is the lasting psychological after effects.
Taking an early morning tour yesterday morning i stopped off at the Cathedral and met Christope and his son Fritz. amongst the rubble. Through my Haitian interpreter Guy, Cristophe explained that his wife had been killed when the cathedral collapsed as she prayed. He told us that he came here every day and lived in a tent nearby. His son Fritz was listless and clung to his father the whole time we spoke. He seemed to be still dazed by it and had none of the spark you’d expect from a 2 year old.
Directly behind me and to the left i was told that there were approx 120 people still buried in the rubble, they too had been killed during the quake.
Photographer and visual artist based in Belfast.
I have facilitated community based workshops with groups as diverse as visually impaired individuals in Dungannn, Travellers across Northern Ireland, Young Offenders and many community groups across Belfast.
My work has exhibited extensively here in Northern Ireland in group and individual shows and has been shown in North America and i had my first solo international exhibition in New Zealand. I have been the recipient of a number of grants from the Arts Council Northern Ireland.
I’ll be blogging about Arts and Culture, primarily in Belfast
check out www.moochinphotoman.tumblr.com
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