For better or worse, humankind is molded by the various stories we tell about ourselves. Our stories govern who, when, where, how and why we love or hate, nurture or destroy, caress or torture. Every plural entity - a friendship, a pair of lovers, a marriage a family, a community- is bound together by the creation of a shared story. ~Sam Keene
I am a photojournalist and videographer living and working in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I moved to here in August 2011 to work with a local Haitian media organization, Groupe Médialternatif, which publishes the news website AlterPresse.org.
Haiti has taught me more things than I have yet had the time to stop and count, paramount of which is that you can never truly know a place until you have lived there. The images, videos, and stories that came from Haiti, both before and after the earthquake, have painted a picture to the world of a failed nation. This is the image that I brought with myself to Haiti, and it is an image that was quickly broken within my first few weeks here.
In my last year I have learned Haitian Creole, made incredible friendships, drank entirely too much Prestige, had 2 motorcycle accidents (not Prestige related), filmed a voodou ceremony, become addicted to Haitian coffee, seen amazing landscapes, and most of all been able to witness a part of Haiti that unfortunately doesn't exist in the media today. And for that I am forever thankful.
Kohl Threlkeld