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March 19th, 2010

Congo – Five Days on the Road

It’s all online now. In the coming week or so I may post the audio blogs and photos from my trip to Republic of Congo to film for INCEF last summer, but for now, you can see the finished film on INCEF’s Vimeo Channel.

Day One – Five Days on the Road from INCEF on Vimeo.

Day Two – Five Days on the Road from INCEF on Vimeo.

Day Three – Five Days on the Road from INCEF on Vimeo.

Day 4 – Five Days on the Road from INCEF on Vimeo.

Day 5 – Five Days on the Road from INCEF on Vimeo.

A couple photos I took (or that were shot of me):

By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Travel, Video • No Comment
March 10th, 2010

Day Two: Five Days on the Road

If anyone is familiar with the Elephant Listening Project, or maybe saw the “60 Minutes” segment with Katy Payne, she wrote the following in response to my INCEF video from Day One.

Anyway, Day Two is now live!

Day Two – Five Days on the Road from INCEF on Vimeo.

Listen, if you are interested in conservation.  We do not yet understand the complex of priorities that drive the decisions that are undermining the natural world. Priorities of people in positions of power differ from those who are powerless and desperate merely to survive — we have got to understand all of these.  Nothing is harder than working on both ends of the spectrum towards what might become a sustainable future.

I speak as one who has been concerned for two decades with the behavior and welfare of wild elephants in African savannas and forests.  The bitter pill of those years was the incremental discovery that understanding elephants is easier than understanding the human decisions that determine their destinies.

While swallowing that pill I became aware of a small collaborative venture called INCEF — the International Conservation and Education Fund — and realized that this group has, in just a few years, opened the possibility of an unexpected solution. INCEF’s founder, Cynthia Moses, is an American filmmaker whose deep contacts with Congolese conservationists and educators have made it possible to listen to remote villagers and to respond to them in helpful ways as never before — empowering them to see themselves less as victims than of guardians of natural processes.  Thanks to the expertise at its helm, INCEF  is documenting not only the evidence of gradual changes in perspective but also the process through which this is being achieved. Far from being a jealous competitor for limited funds, INCEF is a transparent effort,  for the rest of us to witness and learn from.

Over the years my work has had many benefactors — has received help from most of the large conservation organizations whose dreams of a healthy earth coincide with mine.  All those organizations are necessary and profoundly appreciated, but none is proving as adequate as INCEF to the task of  listening — continuously and sensitively listening — to what is happening on the ground.  Now I hear that INCEF — initially dependent on the limited resources of its founders and still too small for its mission —  is struggling to survive. I write to urge potential supporters to take a look at this remarkable group and its robust start at fundamental ground-level change. It must not be allowed to fail. If INCEF fails there is nothing to replace it.

Sincerely,
Katy Payne
Founder, Elephant Listening Project
Author, Silent Thunder: in the Presence of Elephants
By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Travel, Video • No Comment
March 7th, 2010

Five Days on the Road! – Day One

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!

Day One – Five Days on the Road from INCEF on Vimeo.

By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Travel, Video • No Comment
January 17th, 2010

Goodbye Quito

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!

Interview with Alejandro:

Quito Photography Rough Cut from Aaron P Kohn on Vimeo.

Shot on a 7D and downcoverterd to 720P.

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.
Veronica taking Demaris and Tania home from ABEI.
“VERO” – Veronica. “CRUZ” – her husband Washington De La Cruz.
Anderson and his friend wait and cry while their mothers clean someone’s laundry.
Veronica takes a break from washing to feed Anderson.
Veronica hanging her client’s clothes.
Jocelyn (4), opening the front door.
Veronica’s abusive husband, Washington.
Veronica and Washington.
The family bedroom.
A doll, Anderson, Washington, Tania, Demaris and Veronica before bed.
Demaris and Tania - Twins.
It's common for Ecuadorans living in small homes to have sex in front of their kids.

Introduction Sequence to Veronica Solorenza from Aaron P Kohn on Vimeo.

By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Photography, Travel • 1 Comment
January 14th, 2010

Zambiza

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.

By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Photography, Travel • No Comment
January 13th, 2010

Truth Show Invitation

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.

Updates also at http://www.truthworkshopblog.org/

By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Photography, Travel • 2 Comments
January 13th, 2010

Day Three (of shooting). Day One (of a story).

[Introduction to Veronica Solorenza]

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.
Veronica hanging laundry at one of her jobs.

Sequences:

Introduction Sequence to Veronica Solorenza from Aaron P Kohn on Vimeo.

By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Photography, Travel • 2 Comments
January 12th, 2010

Quito Updates

Lots happening.  Updates on:

www.twitter.com/aaronpkohn

and

http://www.truthworkshopblog.org/

By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Photography, Travel • 1 Comment
January 8th, 2010

Quito

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:

http://www.truthworkshopblog.org/

http://weyoblog.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Truth-With-A-Camera/149752554308?ref=ts&v=wall

By Aaron Kohn • Posted in Travel • No Comment