My work usually puts me in the spectators seat, telling stories of people in need. I want to change that. I am teaming up with Kids of Kathmandu and trekking in to Everest First Base Camp to raise funds for some of Nepal's neediest, hearing impaired orphans who need education, clean water, consistent electricity to thrive and help themselves.
Click on photo to learn more and to donate.
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William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.
"Need a Lift?" she said, documenting women's health in Kenya
"Need a lift?" she quietly said, as we passed by her on a path among the corn rows. We were headed to visit Pheobe, an obstetric fistula survivor, and her family at a village in Mumias, Kenya. I said no, thinking how a person as small as she is ride that giant bicycle with someone on the back. One of my traveling campanions had no issues with that. He hopped on the bike and rode off with her pedaling away. We continued on and after 15 minutes I arrived to find him sitting in the shade and relaxed, while I stood there sweating and over heated. Next time don't think so much I told myself.
A moment of reflection, documenting women's health issues in Africa.
A moment of reflection before her surgery is set to start, in a room that used to be a kitchen now an operating room where doctors help women heal. Not just from physical problems, but from some emotional ones also, to live a better, and fuller life. Documenting a day in the life of the Gynocare clinic dedicated to women's health in Eldoret, Kenya.
Africa on my mind: documenting malaria testing and obstetric fistula treatment in East Africa
As I prepare for a return trip to Africa. East Africa this time around (Kenya and Uganda) to work on malaria and obstetric fistula stories I think back to my recent trip to Sierra Leone. I put together a video of some highlights of the trip.
Sierra Leone highlight reel from william vazquez on Vimeo.
This is the video I made for Direct Relief about their Midwife support program in Sierra Leone.
Direct Relief Midwife support program; Sierra Leone, Africa from william vazquez on Vimeo.
Tornado response; traveling to Moore, Oklahoma with Direct Relief.
I have been in hurriances and seen their aftermath. I have experinced earthquakes and seen the destruction. None of those past experiences prepared me for what I saw in Moore, Oklahoma after an EF5 tornado. In some places it was a destruction so total it is a miracle that people survived. Survived they did, and right away they started to pick up the pieces of their lives. Groups of all kinds started streaming into Moore soon after the tornado, church groups, NGO's, government agencies, veterans, and just regular people who piled up supplies and equipment in their trucks and drove hundreds of miles to help. They came to clean up, cut trees, feed people, provide medical attention, bring medicine, to help in any way possible. I am glad I was able to travel with Direct Relief to document their efforts in Moore. I put together a video which shows the relationship between Direct Relief and Team Rubicon. The goal being how working together they are able to more effectively get help to the people that need it faster and more efficiently.
DR Moore-OKC rubicon v3 from william vazquez on Vimeo.
This video is about Direct Relief's response to the disaster.
Photographing for Direct Relief, maternal and child health clinics in Sierra Leone, Africa
I was commisioned by Direct Relief to document their efforts in reducing maternal death for both the mother and child. Direct Relief provides midwife kits to graduates from the School of Midwifery in Makeni, Bombali District, Sierra Leone. The midwife kits provide the tools needed to safely deliver a baby. Tools that are almost impossible to find in Sierra Leone. I was commisioned to document in photography, and video different clinics in rural parts of the country as well as the graduation of the most recent class. Sierra Leone emerged from a brutally violent civil war 10 years earlier, and their infrastructure was decimated. It was one of the more challenging trips I have done with all sorts of issues ranging from lack of electricity, the extreme heat, eating well, bad roads, spotty mobile service, limited internet access, and very basic lodging at times. This is one of the countries where the term "conflict diamonds" originated from. On the up side though the people were amazingly friendly, and welcoming everywhere I went from small villages to the capital city.
These photos are more of my expericnes, and a feeling of the place. As a policy I don't publish any photos that my client can use until they have published first. So I will publish more at a later time. Many thanks to Lindsey Pollaczek the project director from Direct Relief who organized the trip and traveled with me. She organized a great trip and is a super traveler. It was a positive and deeply felt experience.
While we were having lunch under a tree, a boy carrying water and mangos passed by.
At the graduation the local photographers were pretty aggressive on getting their shots. So was I....
Crossing a bridge and just washed laundry drying the in the sun.
A typical village with land being cleared for planting.
A shot of me with way too much gear photo by Lindsey.
We did lots of driving to get to some of the more remote clinics, over 20 hours in total for the week.
A house by the road. Some of the houses are from the colonial period of Sierra Leone.
Everywhere I went I would have an entourage......many curious and cute kids
Typical road in the more rural parts.
More ground being cleared for planting. Slash and burn, not a good thing.
A typical girl selling bananas, and eating a mango.
Sometimes we had to get off the road to get to where we needed to go in Kono, Sierra Leone.
A general store in rural areas.
Everywhere we went we got smiles and waves.
Graduation ceremony complete with marching bands and procession in Makeni, Sierra Leone
Some of the midwife graduates posing for a photo on the football pitch. The graduates played a soccer game....It was great fun to watch
I photographed an expectant mother at her home and she invited us to lunch. Rice with cassava leaves, palm oil, pepper, and a warm 7up. In the photo Dr. Heidi from the Medical Research Center on the left, and Lindsey from Direct Relief on the right. Not everyone in the shot was invited to the lunch...this was our entourage who stayed to watch.
Photographing the expectant mother while being observed.
These girls were way too cute and loved having their photos taken.
It was hot, very hot!
Sometime we drove at night. We tried to avoid that.
In Freetown the weekends are a time where football is played on the beach there must be about 20 matches going on. Keeping ft is a big thing with people jogging everywhere.
Night time in Freetown....The smell and smoke of cooking fires all over the city, make the city very smokey, and its dark in places due to no power. This is the Times Square there is a big jumbo screen playing videos.
Typical roadside businness'
Typical road
Motorbikes are everywhere.
The marching band, and Abdul the trumpet player.
There was also an all girl marching band.
Each midwife team had someone to drive away the bad spirits. She was the best.
More motor bikes.
A goat tied up outside out guest house in Kono
The common area of the guest house, not bad
The bathroom in Kono. Pretty basic
My room in Kono with the requicsite mosqito net but the fan was not working. It was a long and sweaty night.
Direct Relief International newsletter cover photograph
A little girl with her grandmother waiting her turn to have her blood sugar measured at a free event in a the small town Sacaba. This past April I traveled to Cochabamba, Bolivia to photograph at the Centro Vivir con Diabeties. I was working with Direct Relief International which provides technical support as well as material to the centro for them to accomplish their mission. It is an honor to be working with DRI, and the dedicated people that work there. It is amazing how much good they do in the world. Have a look at their site.
This is my second trip to Bolivia as well as visit the Centro. They are great people doing great things for their people. From the plateau city of Cochabamba to the mountain city of La Paz where it feels that you are always walking up or down hill. I don't think I will ever tire of visiting Bolivia, and its people.
Aging out of Foster Care: Brittny's story
At 18 years old you age out of the foster care system. That means no place to live, no job, no support, and the emotional scars that have been caused by having to go through foster care. This is Brittny's story on the challenges she has faced since she aged out of foster care.
This video was a collaboration with Salaam Garage a citizens journalism for social change NGO and myself check them out.
At the Apple store Soho
I am going to use up a few more minutes of my 15 minutes of fame that I have left, and would like you to join me at the Apple store Soho, NYC. Me and fellow APA board member Keith Barraclough will be presenting, and sharing our deepest photo secrets. After the lecture we will all be going out for drinks so don't wander off. Looking forward to seeing you. Did I mention that it's free?
Here are the deets.
Day and time: Wednesday, October 13, 6:30-8 p.m.
Place: SoHo Apple Theater, 103 Prince St (between Mercer and Greene).
Admission: Free (seating is limited)
*No advance registration is required
Haiti in crisis
Meet Isabelle who lives somewhere near Cange, Haiti. We met 3 weeks ago when I was in Haiti working on a project. We chatted a little in my very limited French/Creole which she found quite funny, and found her to be a very sweet girl with a sense of humor. I really hope she, and her family are OK.
Lets band together to help her people, and her country. Haiti is a very special place with special people.
I have personally worked with, and seen the results of these two organizations. They are a very dedicated group of people working in great organizations that use your donations to maximum effect. Please donate, and tell your friends, family members, co-workers, everyone!
Partners in Health The PIH Vision: Whatever it takes At its root, our mission is both medical and moral. It is based on solidarity, rather than charity alone. When a person in Peru, or Siberia, or rural Haiti falls ill, PIH uses all of the means at our disposal to make them well—from pressuring drug manufacturers, to lobbying policy makers, to providing medical care and social services. Whatever it takes. Just as we would do if a member of our own family—or we ourselves—were ill.
Direct Relief Policy Regarding Donations for Haiti Because of the intense attention and the outpouring of generosity we have seen in response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti, we believe it is important to note that 100% of every dollar that is designated for the Haiti earthquake will be used only to pay programmatic expenses related to assisting people in Haiti.
Third stop......Haiti
Doing it all in Haiti, photographing at a peanut farm, children's clinic, woman's health clinic, children's nutrition food production, with great people, lots of sun, and good food. I can't show the images that my client might use, but I can show a bit of what I saw getting to those places.
The motorbike, and its not a motorcycle.
Earlier this year I did a lot of traveling for a project. I was doing documentary photography of some NGO programs in Vietnam. Vietnam is a great place by the way. I was there to document an Avian flu prevention program run by by CARE for poultry farmers near HCMC. The farmers involvement is very important because they are the front line to preventing the spread of the disease in their flocks as well as the population at large.
One of the primary means of transport in Vietnam is the motorbike. There are millions of them, literally. It's cheap, and can go almost anywhere. Here is a short movie of an encounter I had with one in Vietnam in getting to the farms.
Please help CARE in their work. They are a worthy organization. I have seen some of the amazing things that they do.a
Chicago, Columbus, Kanosha, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Campo verde, Rome, Ludwigshafen, Hanover, Santo Domingo, Kingston, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Tri, Guangzhou, Shanghai in 1 minute 20 seconds.
In the course of 2 months I photographed doctors, children, teachers, scientists, engineers, mothers, fathers, community activists, business people, nurses, orphans, farmers, firemen, monks, and many people from all walks of life for a client in various locations around the world. The goal to get the essence of the people in how they live and work; I can't say I remember everyone I met, but I certainly feel that I shared some good moments with them. I make it a point to interact with everyone I photograph. I photographed in farms, factories, communes, schools, hospitals, schools, clinics, offices, temples, and everywhere in-between. Here is a small sampling of some of the people, and places.
"Boliva, Cambodia, Kosovo"
Some spreads from my second self published photo book titled "Bolivia, Cambodia, Kosovo." It's about people I photographed in some far flung locales for a client last year. A great client and a great project. The best part was that it was just me and my camera, and I got to meet some really wonderful people. Photography made possible by Abbott Fund
The book is not available in stores if anyone is interested let me know and I can have more printed up. I don't know what the cost will be. It depends on how much interest there is. I did it mostly as a portfolio piece and did not plan to sell it.
Bolivia: diabeties clinic, Centro vivir con diabeties
Cambodia: Ankor Childrens Hospital, Siem Reap Cambodia
Kosovo: Neonatal hospital, Prishtina
