Hope for Haiti fundraiser

On February 05, 2010 I had the honor of being invited by my friend, client and colleague Mike Jean to photograph the Hope for Haiti fundraiser at Amnesia in NYC. All funds raised that night went to the Red Cross towards their efforts helping earthquake victims in Haiti. It was hosted by Mike Jean, Ally Hilfiger and Valerio St. Louis and featured musical performances by Jennifer Logue, Sean Murphy, Michael Fredo, Karen Anderson, Ashte, Carimi, Shoubou From Tabou Combo, Andy Hilfiger and more.

Here are some highlights from the event:

http://sander-martijn.com/hopeForHaiti

Earthquake in Haiti

I want to say something others haven't yet, but I'm not sure I can, being that I am not there. I have heard little from my connections there since the phones are down. All I can do at the moment is work to find a way to get down there and help, and hope that happens soon enough to really make a difference.

It saddens me that after a period of stability and rebuilding so much has been destroyed. It saddens me that everything seems to be against them - not just politically but naturally as well. All I can do is hope that the death toll isn't too high, that rebuilding is swift and that I find a way to go there and help.

If you would like to help me get down there, you can either buy a print at sandermartijn.etsy.com or donate directly via paypal to sander@sander-martijn.com. More importantly than financials I am looking for a way to fly down there which will require connections with a news organization that I can photograph for or an Aid organization or Government organization I can work with. I am willing to do anything and speak some Creole and some French and am not only a photographer but a tech guy, so there are many options. If you have any information that can help, please let me know as soon as possible.

All that said, the local news channel did a piece on me tonight. You can watch it here:

Presentation on Haiti

This is a presentation I made about Haiti and my last two trips as well as my goals for this one. If you want to support me, buy a print at http://sandermartijn.etsy.com

Selling prints to fund next trip to Haiti

I set up an etsy page at http://sandermartijn.etsy.com where I am selling prints of my work to help fund my next trip to Haiti in December 2010 to take part in the project "A week in the life of Haiti Cherie" where 20 photographers from around the world will go to Haiti for one week to document the country in all it's splendor and beauty along with the unavoidable squalor.

Many of the photos are from my past 2 trips to Haiti with a few art pieces as well from other projects. Archival signed prints (unframed) go for as little as $10 and nothing is above $60 (gallery framing). Please consider this as a christmas present for loved ones, and send it on to anyone you know that might be interested.

Haiti information session and auction

On December 7th at 7pm I will be holding a presentation on Haiti at the United Methodist Church in Stroudsburg PA. It will begin with an informational presentation about Haiti and the work I am doing there, followed by an auction of some of the photographs taken during my last two trips to Haiti. All proceeds from the auction will go towards funding my trip in February to work on the book "A week in the life of Haiti Cherie. The final piece of the auction will be a private viewing of the work I do in February after my return with the buyer's choice of any one photo from that trip.

"A week in the life of - Haiti Cherie" is a project of photographs and essays published about Haiti. Photographers from around the world will volunteer to document the various aspects of haitian life for a specific "one week" period capturing often-missed beauty and splendor of Haiti and squalor.

Epson talks about my work in Haiti

Epson posted an article today on my work in Haiti, naturally focusing on how I used their printer to accomplish my work.

http://epson.ipressroom.com/pr/epson/Sander-Martijns_PM_Zoom_Haitian_Case_Study.aspx

Mom writes about the risk of giving

With little news to post recently, I thought I'd give my readers something relevant to read written by my mom, regarding the family my parents support there. The son of the woman she speaks of is my and my mom's godson, to give you a point of reference.

http://mariannekmilks.blogspot.com/2009/05/money-honey.html

The Key

The Key
Originally uploaded by Sander-Martijn

At some past point in my life I realized that the keys on your keychain are a symbol of your current situation and responsibilities in life. Do you have keys to your home? Is it a house or an apartment, and do you own it? Are there car keys? Perhaps even keys to a boat - did you remember to take it out of the water in time this fall? Office keys? Are they for your business or do you have a boss? Keys to a girl/boyfriends place perhaps?

Well, as you can see here, this is my key. When I left Brooklyn I took off the 7 keys to my studio - that's 2 elevator keys, a front door, mailbox, hall door and 2 deadbolts on my door, and was surprised to see that there was only one left. The remaining key is to a small fireproof safe that guards my passports, my birth certificate and other important documents. an 8x10x5 box contains my responsibilities. Talk about freedom!

The girl of L'Escale

The girl of L'Escale
Originally uploaded by Sander-Martijn

I wrote about this girl in one of my first blog posts here: haiti.sander-martijn.com/2009/01/lescale.html - I thought I had lost the photo, but recovered it and close to 200 other lost photos from Haiti this morning.

Specifically, this is the passage:
"And then there was her. Something special about her - so beautiful, pure, simple. She was cooking in the kitchen, an outdoor pavilion probably powered by charcoal. I'm guessing she was 15. She was beautiful and looked into my camera with a power I rarely see. Not angry or mean, not seductive, not even confident - just looking. piercing. direct. unafraid. and beautiful."

A menagerie of dichotomies - Brooklyn to the Poconos

Today begins the next step in my adventure. I sold as much as I could, packed up the truck and headed out. I had a lot of help from some wonderful people - my parents, my sister Aiperi and her husband Ulan, my best friend Alina, and two other close friends Anatolli and Dan. I couldn't have done it without them. Oh yes, and I want to thank Debbie and Mike Cerra as well who loaned me the truck so I didn't have to pay for a rental. Leaving New York where I've been for 13 years, and my photo studio for the last 4 years was bittersweet of course. But Pennsylvania, the poconos specifically, will be a good place to get my head together and work out some of the details I need to before I can leave for Haiti. After a long drive and a late dinner I went out to look at the stars and process this major change in my life. Stars are one thing I've always missed living in New York, so it's the first thing I do when I go somewhere I can see them. They bring me peace, looking at this huge universe we live in and reminding myself how small my problems are, and how far reaching anything positive I do can be. Just as I looked up at the sky I saw a large bright orange falling star. I made a wish. I wished that this is the beginning of everything falling into place, and that things will move smoothly and swiftly from here on out.