Max Hirshfeld: The Horror and Hope of Haiti
Artists, and particularly photographers, often get front-row seats to the most powerful human emotions. They’re regularly called upon to capture the highest of highs, and just as often asked to chronicle the depths of human suffering.
Washington, D.C.-based photographer Max Hirshfeld experienced heaping doses of both in 2011, when he visited earthquake-ravaged Haiti as part of a volunteer team of environmental artists, psychologists and social workers.
The Caribbean nation was devastated in January 2010 by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that leveled the capital city of Port-au-Prince and, according to reliable death counts, claimed over 220,000 lives. Haiti’s presidential palace was destroyed. The country’s Parliament and many other important and historical structures were demolished. Tens of thousands of Haitians were left homeless and penniless.
It was into this shocking environment that Max – a multifaceted artist comfortable shooting hard news, celebrity portraits, offbeat magazine covers and everything in between – traveled with his team just one short year later. The trip was, he says bluntly, “an eye-opener,” touching on everything from human trafficking to the often horrific conditions some 1 million Haitian orphans must endure every day.
“Over the course of four days we visited three orphanages where I photographed over 100 orphans,” Max notes, “as well as efforts to initiate disaster-coping skills for the caretakers at dozens of other orphanages.”
For all the suffering he witnessed in the shattered nation, Max’s gripping photos are a remarkable testament to the human condition – particularly the unique beauty and strength of children, who despite challenges most of us could not imagine can still find cause to dance in the streets or crowd around a small television and enjoy a favorite program.
Max, for one, found the children of Haiti to be extremely inspirational.
“We hope this will be the first of several visits to this challenged but most remarkable of places,” he says.
Click here to see more of Max’s inspirational work from Haiti.
