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CONTACT: (1) (561) 309-6887 or haiti_media@turningworld.org
"To me, Haiti is a place of true beauty. There is beauty in the history of resistance to human bondage, in the culture and creativity, in the strength and humbling hospitality of many Haitians I have met."
― Brad Workman, Photojournalist
Independent Photojournalist Launches Campaign to Fund Coverage of Haiti's Enduring Struggles
Turning World Magazine
FOREST CITY, N.C., July 28, 2013 — An independent American photojournalist and start-up publisher today began a worldwide search for patrons to support his long-term project for non-partisan visual reporting on Haiti's enduring social and political struggles.
The "Embracing Haiti" project's planned media releases include a print book, a digital book, a framed gallery exhibit, and a freely distributable multimedia Web report. One year has been scheduled for intermittent Haiti visits for principal photography by Brad Workman.
The project launch coincides with the anniversary of U.S. Marines landing in Haiti in 1915, which began an occupation that ran until 1934.
Today, as Haiti works to rebuild and heal from the devastating 2010 earthquake, some troubles the country is home to include hunger, child labor and urban street children, severe environmental degradation, limited health care, an incomplete parliament, and cholera. The current United Nations Haiti mission, or MINUSTAH, includes a total of thousands of troops and police and began in 2004.
In its Human Development Report 2013 the U.N. ranked Haiti 161 out of 187 countries or territories based on the Human Development Index, or HDI. The index is a combined measure of life expectancy, educational attainment, and income.
"To me, Haiti is a place of true beauty. There is beauty in the history of resistance to human bondage, in the culture and creativity, in the strength and humbling hospitality of many Haitians I have met," said Workman, 47, in a Web video introducing the Haiti project. "But, in my experience, Haiti has always been a deeply troubled country."
"Embracing Haiti" producer Turning World Communications will not seek profit on book sales, the gallery exhibit will be available free by request for display at any legitimate venue willing to pay any needed shipping charges, and the distributable multimedia report will be free to view on Turning World's website.
Premiums are available for contributing patrons. One "Embracing Haiti" premium for one major patron in America is (conditionally) a visit by a grateful photojournalist, Workman. The premiums for all support levels, including $5, are described on the project's main Web page at http://www.turningworld.org/embracinghaiti.
The final "Embracing Haiti" fundraising deadline is July 27, 2014. However, if contributions received are at any time not enough to keep the project progressing as envisioned then it will end, all unobligated money received will be refunded, and any premiums previously provided will be the patron's to keep.
Workman has visited Haiti 20 times since 2003 and published five Haiti-based issues of Turning World Magazine. He founded Turning World Communications in 2007.
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