Alice Smeets | Blog

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I have found there is a common belief amongst photographers today, that a single picture is enough to provoke much needed change in this often unfair and inhuman world. I however believe that while a picture can certainly catapult horrific wrongdoings into the public eye, it has not enough power by itself anymore to also catalyse the world into action. It is my conviction that in order to achieve the desired effect of change, the photographer themselves has to get personally involved in the subject matter he is documenting. In the end, how can the eyewitness expect the viewers at home to act first?

With my pictures I do not only want to show the world’s problems and hardships people face, but I also want to play a small role in finding solutions and sources of comfort for those less fortunate. I have never been satisfied with being a simple voyeur of people living in utterly inhuman and undignified conditions. I want to bring about change, working as hard as it takes with my camera as my tool.

For me, the most effective way to achieve this is by focusing intensively on a topic or issue, thus gaining as much insight into the culture, mentality and problems of the region as possible, in order to find ways to help that will not create dependency but rather offer the possibility for independent growth for the people affected.

Early on I chose Haiti as my focus. The first time I visited was in 2007 and since then I have been to the country 9 times. In the wake of the devastating earthquake that happened last year, I founded and preside over the non-profit foundation “Viv Timoun”. The name literally means ‘live little child’ in Creole. We collect donations by selling my pictures as fine art prints and by showing my work on fundraising events. Amongst several projects, we support a local school that was destroyed in the earthquake, which by now has already been rebuilt. With the kind support of our donors and the Belgian government we are able to organize a 6 months long photography workshop this year, lasting from August 2011 to late January 2012, aimed at young adults living in and around Port-au-Prince. Our goal is to open a photo studio on site, thus creating the opportunity for the participants to receive assignments as portrait, wedding and documentary photographers, helping them gain financial independence and the strength to live and work without the risk of dependence on foreign aid or exploitation.

This is the very reason why I created my own foundation, rather than supporting existing ones and NGO’s full time. During the many months I have spent documenting the living conditions (in the largest sense of the term) in Haiti I have come to see that most NGO’s aid is very ineffective. More often than not they create dependence rather than nurturing independence in the developing countries and regions they are active in. Having my own foundation allows me the freedom to choose more freely which local organizations to support or partner with. One big criteria of my willingness to start something of my own is being capable of managing the funds of my organisation. I have first hand knowledge that often basic mistakes and oversights in this area lead to a lot of money never reaching the ones who need it most and, at the same time, creating a barrier of mistrust between the NGO’s and their target group. Another big freedom which results from having my own foundation is that I can put into practice ideas that mean a lot to me, like the photography workshop later this year.

In addition to my work in Haiti, you will often find me visiting schools and institutions in Belgium and Germany, where I hold presentations and/or give workshops using the pictures I take as mediums to educate the audience. I plan to expand this audience to include pupils studying in Haitian elite schools, creating awareness of how they can help the ones on the very poor side of their own country.

Call me an idealist and you are right. I consider myself a human rights activist who uses her photographs as a device to raise awareness to the human rights violations I witness. This is what drives me to grow as a photojournalist and what makes me want to become a better storyteller. I intend to travel to as many places in this world as possible, observing, learning and photographing. Having currently chosen Haiti as my primary focus, doesn’t mean I don’t want to discover what else this world has to offer and which other different stories can be told through my camera.

As I move forward in photography I want to keep on exploring what it really is that draws me to these places and people, while continually trying to convey the emotion that I feel as successfully as possible to the viewer. In my opinion a photograph should be clear and easy to read with the ability to teach the viewer about its subject, sending out a comprehensible message to everyone. Pictures are able to capture reality that people believe in and therefore I don’t share the new idea to mix photojournalism and modern art. Photojournalism is an art by itself as it is necessary for the photographer to understand the interaction of line, tone, shape, pattern, texture, light and shadow and how these elements work together to create something of inherent visual interest. I am a photo reporter in the classical sense and I also use the camera to explore new relationships, new chances and new beginnings - and most importantly new stories.

From the time when I assisted Philip Jones Griffiths one of his often repeated sentences is stuck in my head: “Let’s shoot real pictures for real people”.  That is my conviction and my inspiration, when I am out taking pictures. I believe in the “decisive moment” to be the instant in which one captures the importance of a situation.

Currently I also dedicate a lot of work to improving my multimedia skills, because the combination of the written word with sound and pictures creates a bigger impact than the individual components alone. While the written word has the information, the picture, the sound and the spoken word contain the emotions. The interviews with their own voices make the stories and the people real, help to engage with the audience in their stories and feel with them. It is one of the many reasons I believe in the benefits of modern technology and why I intend to use it to the fullest of its advantages.

Now I want to go further in my work and maybe have a bigger influence and higher impact with my pictures. These photos together with talks about my experiences in places like Haiti will help me to transmit my knowledge. As an additional benefit it will make it easier to collect even more donations from individuals, companies and different governments. This in turn will help me work even closer with the Haitian people to improve their living situation by bringing out their pro-activism and strengthening their trust in their own force, rather than creating a debilitating dependency on outside funding and aid. And these improvements again I will capture with my camera.

Togehter with the ARTCO Gallerie in Herzogenrath, Germany we will organize a print sale of 49 of my Haiti pictures.

My pictures are sold in an edition of 15 pictures and the first 3 of these 15 will be sold for the good cause. 100% of the amount raised will go to projects in Haiti.

These are the prices:

20×30cm - 300 Euro (special price for this campaign - normal price 400 Euro)

40×60cm - 450 Euro (special price for this campaign - normal price 550 Euro)

60×90cm - 600 Euro (special price for this campaign - normal price 700 Euro)

The award winning picture (Unicef picture of the year 2008) - 1100 Euro -  (special price for this campaign - normal price 1200 Euro)

The pictures can be bought online here: http://www.artco-ac.de/

The sharp peak of scissors is drilling in and out of an empty Red Bull can. Slowly it starts to form a precise circle, which is then rolled up between old looking fingers. Cutting, winding, rolling, gluing and testing - until the metal is transformed into a flower. “Golden” works every day very hard in his little house in the middle of the biggest township of Cape Town, Khayelitsha. He creates daisies, roses, sunflowers, and margaritas – in blue, red, white, yellow, green and pink.

After dreaming three times of an angel whispering to him in a low voice he should go to the garbage dump and find flowers, Golden got the idea of creating flowers out of tin cans. Nowadays he is the owner of a flourishing business, got himself and his family out of poverty and even has his own street sign so that the tourists can find him in the middle of the township.

You can find pictures HERE

.. so this is the time that I start reflecting about what happened in 2009. It was not an easy year, but one of the best I ever had. I learned many lessons. When I was in South Africa I found this saying on someones wall:

I asked for wisdom…And I received problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity…And I got brains and the strength to work.
I asked for courage…And I faced danger to overcome.
I asked for love…And I met troubled people to help.
I asked for favors…And I found opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted.
I received everything I needed.

That’s how I feel about my life and it was thaught to me especially this year. (I changed the quote a little bit so it fits into my thinking).

I have been twice to Haiti this year, I travelled to India, through Europe and a few weeks ago I visited South Africa. These all were such enriching experiences and I learned so much through each of them.

I moved out from my mum’s house and now live alone with a friend - which is wonderful. I started to earn my own money, to get assignments and jobs, I sold prints and had my first solo exhibition in a museum. It is wonderful to be independent and to live from such a wonderful job as the photographers one.

My life really took a turn in the last months. I started to read much more than I used to. I found H. Hesse or Hesse found me ;-). I jumbed the highest bunggejump of Europe in Switzerland, I went to Africa and to Asia both for the first time of my life. I found sponsors for Landa, the girl of the Unicef picture of the year and her siblings as well as 4 others. So 10 kids in Haiti are now able to go to a good school. Like in the years before, I met courageous and interesting people all over the world, had experiences that I never had before, which were so wonderful that it often took my breath away.

So what can I say as a conclusion? Life is often not fair at all, but in the end it is wonderful.

My advise to everyone is to take the chance when it’s ahead of you. Don’t be afraid, take the risks - living is taking risks. To say it in Philips words: Who is afraid to die, is afraid to live.

I already have plans for the next year. First I will be going to Haiti in January and February. I will stay there 6 weeks together with the girl -Feli- who did an internship with me in October. We will celebrate carnival in Haiti, I’m really looking forward to that! Another time of the year I’d like to visit Benin, I wanna return to India and in June I will take a few weeks of probably going to Bali to learn how to surf. Then again, I will go back to Haiti because I want to complete my work to bring out a photography book about Haiti in 2011.

These are my plans so far - they are likely to change, as always.

In case you live close to Aachen, Germany, I will be holding a workshop there at the beginning of 2010 at the Ludwigforum.

To conclude my words from before, here comes a little poem of Hermann Hesse for the German speakers:

Wie jede Blüte welkt und jede Jugend dem Alter weicht
blüht jede Lebensstufe,
blüht jede Weisheit auch und jede Tugend
in ihrer Zeit und darf nicht ewig dauern.
Es muß das Herz bei jedem Lebensrufe
bereit zum Abschied sein
und Neubeginne,
um sich in Tapferkeit und ohne Trauern
in andre, neue Bindungen zu geben.
Und jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauber inne,
der uns beschützt und der uns hilft, zu leben.
Wir sollen heiter Raum um Raum durchschreiten,
an keinem wie an einer Heimat hängen-
der Weltgeist will nicht fesseln und nicht engen,
er will uns Stuf um Stufe heben, weiten.
Kaum sind wir heimisch einem Lebenskreise
und traulich eingewohnt, so droht Erschlaffen.
Und wer bereit zum Aufbruch ist und zur Reise,
mag gähnender Entwöhnung sich entraffen.
Es wird vielleicht auch noch die Todesstunde
uns neuen Räumen jung entgegensenden,
des Lebens Ruf an uns wird niemals enden.

Wohlan, denn, Herz
nimm Abschied und gesunde.

.

.

.

--- South Africa

After a flight of 12 hours I finally arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday morning together with Hedi and Claudia, who are employees for the “Kindermissionswerk”, the NGO I am working for. We checked into the Hotel, which is stunning beautiful (the owners are a supporter of the Zip Zap Circus). We drove a little bit through the city, which looks very European.
Directly on the first afternoon we went to Khayelitsha, probably the poorest township in Cape Town. We saw a dancing program for HIV-positive children, which was great. After the program we drove the children back home into their township.
We continued to drive and after about 15 minutes were thrown back in the “developed world”. It was quite a shock to see the poor and the rich living so close together. I have seen lots of poverty before, especially in Haiti (where the slums are much worse), but in Haiti you have poverty, broken roads and street children everywhere – so before I get from one extreme into the other I always have a long flight in-between. Here in South Africa you have only 15 minutes.  It makes you question a lot of things.

Why is it still that way many years after the Apartheid? Why cannot more wealthy persons sponsor a child in the township? Why does the world have money to pay millions for the soccer world cup but not to support those people?

Many years ago we Europeans came here, stole their country and forced them to work for us. Now, many years later, we give them freedom and equality - > to live our lifestyle. But they have never learned our lifestyle.
Our way of thinking straight and forward having a goal in mind – this is what our parents, our society taught us. But no one taught it to them, so how should they know when their parents and their grandparents didn’t know. They used to live in the bush before we invaded their country. The only thing they had to think about was to get enough food everyday and to get along with nature. Nowadays you see lots of big advertising signs next to the poorest people – so it’s natural that they also want all of these things – that creates greed, which again creates violence.

Our system doesn’t work in Africa, if we don’t start to teach it to young children.

But if we would start doing that (which would be the only fair way), there would be a break in our system. People in developing countries would get a good salary, so prices in Europe would rice drastically. But as I said, I think that’s only fair. I know many people in Belgium that buy new shoes every month, new clothes, new cars, …. Why? Because the media is telling you that this is the only way to be happy and to be someone.

But isn’t the only way to really be someone to do something with your life that has a deep sense in it? Like helping other people?

Another project we visited is the Zip Zap Circus. I have put pictures on the blog yesterday. Brent (white South African) and Laurence (French), who worked in circuses as well in younger years, started it 17 years ago and they have been helping so many children to get out of the poverty and have a goal in life. To reach that goal, they have to work hard – they learn it at the Zip Zap Circus School. Many of the kids come from townships and without the circus, it could well be that they would be part of a gang and shoot each other in the streets. But instead they are now traveling through the world performing their acts on the trapeze, the trampoline, by joggling, …

I was planning on writing a long blog post about everything I saw in Southafrica yet. But now I only have 5 minutes left, so I have to postpone the looong post.

Southafrica is a very interesting country, my feelings for it are mixed. I will describe it later on. I will try this evening!

Here are some pictures that I have taken in the circus Zip Zap here in Cape town. It’s a wonderful project which is open for every child that wants to participate… from townships or from the richer areas. They live like a family, give hope to the children and create a mix of cultures. The children travel around the world as the circus is becoming really popular and they are invited to Europe, America, etc.

I photographed them during training.

I am on my way to Cape town and Durban. It’s an assignment for the German NGO “Kindermissionswerk”.

My pictures are in the German Geo this month!

I cannot write a long text, as I am at the airport and have to step into the plane soon.

If I will find a internetconnection in Southafrica, I will write more often and upload pictures when I am there!

PORTRAITS

PORTRAITS IN THE EVENING