Throughout my travels as a humanitarian photographer, it is occasionally difficult not to get attached to the subjects I document. After the 2010 earthquake that devastated the island nation of Haiti, I co-founded an organization called “Lespwa Haiti” thats purpose was to provide support services to small NGO’s on the ground in the struggling country in an effort to make sure their stories were being told. This photo was taken on one of my multiple trips to the country in 2010. I meet this teenage boy on the streets or Port au Prince. He and his family was living in a tent in one of the many “tent cities” that now occupy the capital. It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million people live these IDP camps to this day. There was something about the look in this boy’s eyes that captured my soul and it is the same look that has me going back to countries like Haiti, year after year.
Camera Info:
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-70 2.8 Lens
ISO: 640
EXPOSURE: f / 8.0 at 1/400 sec
Processing Info:
I cropped this image in slightly to get the composition what I was looking for. The black and white conversion was done by Nik Software ‘s Silver Efex Pro 2, by far the best B&W processor available. I used the localized adjustment brush in LR to bring out some shadow detail in the eye, allowing you to more easily see my reflection while capturing this image.
