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.

Direct Relief International newsletter cover photograph from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

This video was a collaboration with Salaam Garage a citizens journalism for social change NGO  and myself check them out.

Aging out of Foster Care: Brittny’s story from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

Cover shot of kids at a daycare for children supported by Abbott

I was in Brazil last year on assignment for Abbott Global Citizenship report. This particular report is for Abbott Brazil specifically using photos I took while in Brazil it also includes photography I did in China, Haiti, as well as the USA. Here are a  few selected pages from the report. If you want to see more of what Abbott Brazil does in corporate citizenship click here. Also check out the main Abbott citizenship site here.

Photography featured in Abbott Brazil Corporate Citizenship Report from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

South Bombay bus

A rare quiet moment in Mumbai. Most of the time the buses are filled beyond capacity. Love the colors.

Moment in time: Mumbai 2/4/11 1:42pm from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

Employee at a Pharmaceutical production plant in Goa, India

It’s all about the eyes, smiling and unafraid of the camera.

Moment in time: Goa, India 2/10/11 3:06 pm from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

Liang getting a nutritional evaluation through Project Hope at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center

Moment in time: Shanghai, 2.2011 3:19 pm from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

Getting ready for the big moment

The first time that the mother got to hold her baby after a month in intensive care after being born prematurely. She couldn’t stop smiling, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. I will get to follow-up later this year on the baby’s progress.

With mom for the first time

A family together

Mini story: Project Hope, Shanghai Childrens Hospital 2.19.2011 10:46am from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

Use it or lose it! Arthritis Ireland an, organization for arthritis sufferers in Ireland organizes dances to get people suffering from arthritis up from the couch and on to the dance floor.The goal being to get them exercising which helps keep them limber. This is one couples story on living with arthritis

Salsa dancing at “Lets Dance with Arthritis” in Galway, Ireland from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

Now the not so glamorous details. I am going to break this up in a few parts in different posts.

Part 1 Organization and travel

I work by myself on these type projects. I travel with no assistant nor a client. I generally connect with a local person that is connected to whatever I am photographing. Sometimes they handle moving me around, sometimes I arrange for local transport in order to show up someplace like a hospital and they show me around. I spend lots of time moving around either in a plane, bus, car, train, tuk tuk, motorcycle, walking, running any and all kinds of transport. No dog sleds…yet, although I have been on one for a different project a while back. I travel as light as possible although it feels like I am still taking too much, particularly when you have to pack for different seasons.

The shoot schedule is very tight that tends to change every day in some form. In this case the design agency coordinates with the client on the schedule. Its up to me to be there on time and ready to work. Its all on a very big spreadsheet that is not too much fun to look at on an iphone.  I have to be prepared to rearrange travel on the go in order to meet the schedule. Thank God for the internet, travel agents, and the iphone! Also being prepared for the unexpected like crazy long layovers, closed airports, broken airplanes, no one who speaks any language that I understand, bad weather, no food where you are stuck, no place to get cash, showing up in the middle of the night, don’t take credit cards, no cars left to rent, no taxis, the list goes on and on.

So where did I get this kind or experience navigating? When I was a photography assistant I worked with a few guys who did serious travel, and picked up a few pointers. Thanks guys!

This a slide show of the many things I saw in my travels. No actual work shots yet. My client gets first crack on publishing them.

What’s the travel like? from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.

Family at temple, Lonavala, India ©2011 william vazquez

Much of of my time is spent photographing people working, playing, laughing, vogueing, etc, but I never have any photos of me doing those things. For example in my house there is a wall full of family photos I am in one maybe two of them. Why? because I am usually the one doing the photographing. So in my recent travels I handed a camera to my client……..Many thanks Roopal! I really need a personal paparazzi.

This is a photo of me photographing a mother and daughter in front of a temple near Lonavala, India. The little girl was really personable and pretty in pink. What a beautiful family.

Wanted: Personal Paparazzi from William Vazquez Photographer New York City - William Vázquez is an advertising, portrait & documentary photographer based in New York, USA.