So the day has finally come. Last summer I travelled with INCEF, who I have interned with for the last few years, to Republic of Congo. I spent three weeks there…one of which I travelled up north with two of their educators, Ella and Erick. They were beginning their two month mission to educate villagers about hunting and ebola. I filmed their journey and their work for five days, and over the next few weeks INCEF is going to release one day of the documentary every three days. At the end I’ll post some behind the scenes images and journal entries. To learn more, check out INCEF’s website, and help them out, and pass the word along!
So I’ve taken the dive, and I’m now a HDDSLR filmmaker. This is the first film I’ve made on a HDDSLR. Okay, well not exactly. I did shoot a film in Quito on a 7D, but it wasn’t mine. So I think this counts as the first.
I’ll be writing more about shooting on HDDSLRs as the production for People Suck! begins. In fact, we will be blogging and posting videos about what equipment we’re using throughout the production…more on that soon…and our sponsors (hint hint)!
Anyway, I am a training editor at the Columbia Spectator, so I help train people to incorporate multimedia throughout the workings of the paper. I decided to make a release video for their new website and their new blog, Spectrum. Check it out here.
You can watch the HD version if you watch the video on Vimeo.com
The monologues have been performed, and the parts for my next short film have been cast. The short comedy that I’ll be directing, one of my first experiments in fiction filmmaking, was written by a Columbia graduate student. The shoot will be in April, so stay posted for updates!
I’m at the Quito airport, about to head back to NYC, but I thought I would post the unedited final images from my story with Veronica De La Cruz. I really have to say that it was a special experience to be let in on some intimate family moments all in the course of only 4 days of shooting. The other treat in Quito was being teamed with Alejandro Reinoso, a photojournalist. He is an amazing photographer. I plan to share his work from the last week; a great story that he chose about the parallels of adoption. And as soon as I edit it, I will post the interview I conducted with Alejandro and his fiancée, Soledad, a fashion photographer.
I’ll be posting Alejandro’s work and some other things from Quito soon!
You can also view parts of the Truth With a Camera Workshop on the official blog.
Veronica, (24), carrying her 5th child Anderson (8 months) to a laundry job.
Aaron Kohn's third day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
Veronica taking Demaris and Tania home from ABEI.
Aaron Kohn's fourth day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
“VERO” – Veronica. “CRUZ” – her husband Washington De La Cruz.
Aaron Kohn's third day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
Anderson and his friend wait and cry while their mothers clean someone’s laundry.
Aaron Kohn's third day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
Veronica takes a break from washing to feed Anderson.
Aaron Kohn's third day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
Veronica hanging her client’s clothes.
Aaron Kohn's third day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
Jocelyn (4), opening the front door.
Aaron Kohn's fourth day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
Veronica’s abusive husband, Washington.
Aaron Kohn's fourth day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
Veronica and Washington.
Aaron Kohn's fourth day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
The family bedroom.
Aaron Kohn's fourth day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
A doll, Anderson, Washington, Tania, Demaris and Veronica before bed.
Aaron Kohn's fourth day of shooting at ABEI Hogar Infantil. (Aaron Kohn)
Demaris and Tania - Twins.
It's common for Ecuadorans living in small homes to have sex in front of their kids.
A friend in Cleveland, Jeff Prough, told me that I had to check out Quito’s dump. He had been there before, and people essentially were living and working in the city’s garbage.
So, I had some free time and made my way there. I guess I must have snuck in, inadvertently, as the guards were attending to some workers. The main garbage site has been moved out of Quito, so Zambezi seems like a smaller recycling plant. As I got to the back and took some of the portraits below, I was stopped by a private armed security guard. I told him I didn’t speak Spanish, and as he left, presumably to find someone else, I decided I should leave. As I got back to the gate, the entire administration was waiting for me and a woman who spoke English got pretty angry…seemed like they’re trying to hide something. Maybe it’s worth a look sometime.
Saturday, January 16th, at 3PM, if you’re in Quito, make your way to the Universidad San Francisco de Quito to view the final works of the Truth With a Camera Workshop this week. Here are two of the prints I’ll have in the show so far.
Veronica and her 8 month-old son, Anderson walking to one of her jobs.
Veronica hanging laundry at one of her jobs.
Back to the streets with Veronica and Anderson at 7 in the morning! Good night.
Veronica Solorzano is twenty-four. She has five children. The father of four of the kids, Washington De La Cruz comes and goes. Damaris and Tania, Veronica’s two-year-old twins are both looked after at ABEI Infantil, the NGO I’ve been assigned to.
Veronica lives in a two-room house, looks after her children, and tries to earn money. She used to hawk candies on the busses in Quito until the Police began to crack down on vendors. One day, her eight-month old, Anderson, fell off the bus and hit his head on the street.
Damaris and Tania were both taken in to ABEI to treat their malnutrition. Veronica works where she can during the day, and today I followed her to a job cleaning laundry. Her life is a testimony to the burden there can be from having a family, especially when you are already struggling to survive.
Nap time at ABEI.
Tania.
Home.
Home with Washington who came back a few weeks ago.
Demaris and Tania at ABEI.
One of Tania and Demaris's Charts [The Green is where a properly nourished child should be].
After dropping Demaris and Tania off at ABEI.
Veronica and her 8 month-old son, Anderson walking to one of her jobs.
Veronica and Anderson on their way to work.
Veronica and Paola
A tattoo of Washington's last name.
Veronica taking a break to feed her 8-month-old, Anderson.
Today was the first full day of the Truth With a Camera Workshop, and we got a lot of groundwork done so that we can get to work. We began by meeting all of the students and the NGO’s that we’re planning to work with at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, a beautiful school near our hotel in Cumbayà.
Through Friday I’ll be working with Alejandro Reinoso, a local photojournalist who is on the staff of a local paper, El Telégrapho. It’s great since he’s familiar with Quito, speaks Spanish, and seems like a great photographer.
Our first assignment was to take portraits of each other. Also, we learned that tomorrow we’re heading downtown to make contact with our assigned NGO who was slightly MIA today, but hopefully that works out.
My instructor for the workshop is Dave Ellis, the Director of Photography for the Fredericksburg Free Lance Star. The other instructors are Stephen Katz and Josh Meltzer.
Saturday I’m joining a group of photojournalists from all over the world in Quito, Ecuador. We will be working with Truth With a Camera, a documentary photography workshop organization that helps provide media for NGO’s. For a week we will be documenting the work of various NGO’s in Ecuador by day, and editing by night.
I’m really looking forward to updating photos and maybe some videos from the trip to show what I’ve learned. You can also find out more at the following links:
![One of Tania and Demaris's Charts [The Green is where a properly nourished child should be].](http://www.apkohn.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/IMGP2767-300x200.jpg)
