Sudanese refugee camp, Touloum, Chad

While on assignment in Chad I spent a lot of time in the Sudanese refugee camps that dot the volatile boarder region. It’s pretty tough to get out to this region, even for tough-to-get-to region standards. It’s not just a matter of transportation or costs, it’s a matter of permission and access. Anyone can get to N’djamena (the Capital), but to getting to East Chad requires getting on the U.N. mandate that allows you access into the U.N. level 4 security zone and on to WFP flights.

Once you are in the East, then it’s a matter of transportation. A series of small flights over the desert, brings you to these make- shift towns where all the major international NGO’s have their sub-offices.

Because of security issues, you have to travel in an armed convoy to get to the camps. The photo that stuck out to me this week is a photo of NGO workers from various agencies facing towards Mecca to pray before heading back in the convoy.

Why it stuck out - It photo doesn’t really have much of a publishable context, but for me it’s one of those photos that brings me back to the moment. I remember wrapping up shooting for the day around 3 o’clock and had about 3 hours to kill before the vehicles arrived for the convoy. I spent most of those hours laying under an acacia tree trying to stay out of the horrible heat and catch up on some much needed sleep.

There wasn’t a car in sight all day, then all of a sudden at 5:00 they all showed up coming from various directions of the desert. We all greeted and then everyone proceeded to pray. After, we drove back to our camp under protection from a splinter SLA rebel group.

I spend quite a bit of time inside the photo management software, Lightroom, sorting through tens of thousands of images, organizing them, tagging, uploading, editing, you name it, and I often I find my self coming across an image that seems to really catch my attention for whatever reason.

When editing in the field and under deadline to get your images filed before the next day, I tend to be so focused on the handful of images that best describes the context of the assignment that I often overlook a lot of images - then the next day repeats itself and that cycle continues. Sometimes it takes months or longer before I ever go over the non-published images with a fine tooth comb. But when I do, I’m often surprised.  Sometimes its a subtle variation on a series that I’ve just never noticed, sometimes it’s an interesting image but doesn’t really have a publishable context, sometimes the image is pretty good, sometimes it’s not, but nonetheless, it’s caught my attention the second time around and what better place to show it than here.

Week One: Damascus, Syria

While working in northern Syria in route back to Jordan I was able to stay in Damascus for a few days. Damascus claims to be the oldest inhabited city in the world (It’s pretty old for sure, but I think Aleppo, Syria is the oldest) and I spent my time walking in the largest covered market in the Middle East. Syria is known for it’s pistachios but probably better known for it’s pistachio ice cream. I took this photo looking through the window of a completely packed creamery in the market.

Why it caught my attention - When my family saw the image, they all said, “That is Syria?” Syria is NOTHING like how we in the West might imagine it. I think this image helps contribute to paint a more accurate picture of that amazing country.

Why it works - This image achieves the “fly-on-the-wall” effect. What separates someones travel snapshot with an actual publishable travel photo is often this effect. It makes it seem as if you are getting an intimate glimpse into a world. If someone were to look at the photographer in the image, it would have a different effect and often is very distracting. I waited patiently at the window until anyone that was looking my way lost interest and then began shooting.

I was asked again to contribute to World Policy Journal’s summer issue. In it will be my reportage from Yemen. Also, if you haven’t seen my cleaned-up blog posts head over to the WPJ blog to check them out!

Micah Albert: Quenching Yemen’s Thirst

Micah Albert: Reporter’s Notebook — The First Taste of Yemen

Yemen work published in Washington Times

Writing is something I truly enjoy, but between you and me, I really don’t like straight news writing. As a journalist, it’s harder than you think to pull yourself completely out of the writing and make the reader believe that you were nothing more than a fly on the wall – a privileged observer. The same goes for quality photojournalism, but even more challenging.  

The advice that I live by, given to me by some of the industries top photo editors, is to get as close to your subject as possible. This inherently is where some of the biggest challenge and reward in photojournalism lies. How do I get close but not be a distraction and take away from what I am essentially trying to achieve as a photographer? How do I get close and yet craft an image that to the viewer it looks as if I really am a fly on the wall? Some of the best photojournalists only use one or two lenses and they are often fixed focal length. Basically by not using telephoto lenses or even mid range focal lengths, forces the photographer to get close to the subject matter. It’s a method that I have found useful over the years and consistently creates some of my best work and lasting memories.

It’s these memories that I want to write about. It’s the process of trying to get close to my subject and what happened when I finally did that brings out my best and enjoyable writing. I love blending the topical relevant news story with some of the musings of the journalist; this is why I read so much op-ed foreign reportage. I think my blog contributions for the World Policy Journal are far more insightful and colorful on the goings on of a fleeing refugee population than the 800 words for the Washington Times. 

Acting as a writer, photographer and blogger  has its challenges and yet the creative process of all brings the best quality out of each. If I wasn’t writing the news aspect and went in as simply a traveler I wouldn’t have gotten close enough to get good quotes and images. It’s the fact that I do write straight news that makes my images that much better. It’s the starting the day knowing I need to have colorful personal accounts, straight news and facts, and above all have engaging high-quality images for a variety of clients, that makes me as a journalist function as an individual in the field. So regardless if I like it or not, if it makes my images better, I will continue to do it. 

Some of my coverage of Yemen is in today’s BBC Middle East News. Click here to see it. 

Recently, I sent an email with my feet/shoes overlooking Damascus, Syria to Keen thanking them for making my most comfortable and favorite travel shoes I have ever had. I noted that these shoes have probably been to more places than the average user and have kept up super well over the last three years. Traveling to over 15 countries and walking countless miles in pretty nasty crap as well as walking the streets of Europe, these shoes have caused me to be a lifetime fan of Keen. 

They responded to my email with great enthusiasm and I will continue the love by telling my friends about them and being a customer for life!

Thanks for contacting KEEN.  Those pictures you took of you in your KEENs are awesome.  We would love for you to be a part of our KEEN community, where you can connect with other like-minded people like yourself.  You can become a part of the community by visiting our website at http://www.keenfootwear.com/community.aspx.   And while you are there, check out our shoes because we’d like to offer you free pairs for your travels. Please provide me with your top 5 shoes (in order of preference) with the color and size, and I will send you the pairs.  All I need from you is an address to send these to.  We do not ship internationally unfortunately, so I will need a U.S. address.  


Looking forward to hearing from you.
 


Thanks,
 


Kristin Murray


KEEN Inc. 

 

I’m spending my last evening in Yemen on the roof of my hotel overlooking the ancient city of Tiaz, enjoying the salty breeze from the Red Sea, and listening to the call to prayer as it is echoes across the city. Sitting here, as twilight approaches and bathes the city in a gorgeous warm light, I try to as hard as possible to soak in this moment and to recount the rich experiences I’ve had on this trip. Because I know that in a matter of days, sitting here on this roof will be a fleeting memory. The breeze, the sounds, the smells will never be retained. It’s not that I have a bad memory it’s just human nature. I guess that is why I’m a photographer and strive to capture the experience and the moment in the best way possible; I guess that is why we all take photos – memories alone just seem to loose their brilliance. 

Venturing deeper into the volatile seas off the coast of Yemen towards Somalia and Djibouti, fishermen like Abdalla Abrahem must spend more time and travel further into these troubled waters to find fish and support his family. Earning at best $10 a day, Abrahem and the rest of the people in the small village of 600 called Dobaba, along the hot arid Red Sea coastline, are one of the communities that are in dire need of food assistance.

Heading off the coast of Yemen in Bab al Mandeb, a narrow strip of sea only 12 miles across where the Middle East and Africa are there closest, Abrahem and I and a few others head out for a day of fishing. 

I arrived in this area after a three-hour drive from Taiz. Descending down more than 4,000 feet through a lush oasis-like winding canyon with palm trees and camels everywhere, the temperature must have increased 30 degrees or more.

I arrived at the village of Dobaba and was shocked to see a series of villages in the middle of this unforgiving landscape and families trying to scrape by on the wind-swept plane. It’s one thing to not have enough to eat, but another thing all together to have to by your water.

Yemen isn’t just food insecure, it’s also facing a water crisis. Yemenis consume 2.8 billion cubic meters of water while renewed water in the aquifers does not exceed 2.1 billion cubic meters. Estimates indicate that the Western part of the country, where nearly 90 percent of Yemen’s population lives, will run out of water in the aquifer in ten years. Drilling in this region requires going to the expensive depth of 1,000 meters. Compared to only 40 meters 25 years ago. Nothing about this village is sustainable and yet they cannot afford to travel the long distance to Taiz let alone afford to live in such a city. Furthermore, their dependency and skill sets revolve around the sea. 

Yemen’s food problems stem from multiple sources going back many years. During the Gulf War in 1991, Yemen supported Iraq politically, but not militarily. In retaliation, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait expelled as many as one million Yemenis. The Yemenis and their families relied heavily upon remittances. As a result, unemployment skyrocketed and inflation has run rampant.

Recently, rebel activity and border conflicts with Saudi Arabia have prevented Yemen’s ability to develop oil reserves in the North. Yemen’s oil refining industry relied on crude from Iraq and Kuwait, which dried up during the war and meanwhile, the US slashed its economic aid by nearly 90%, further fueling the fires of discontent and sparking the growth of the Fundamentalist Islamic movement.

Back in the village, Abrahem’s daughter Shema attends a government-run girls school. “We are thankful that our children can receive a good education, but we still need food.” “What good is education when you can’t eat?”

After returning from the Sea and we give our fish to a local cook and we enjoy the best meal I’ve had on this trip. Relaxing and taking in the much-needed shade, I see a group of people walking towards the building. It’s a group of completely exhausted Somali refugees that just landed on the beach.

As I spend my last day in Yemen, hundreds continue to flee civil conflict in Somalia by making this hazardous journey across the sea I was just on all arriving on the beach I’m enjoying my lunch. Nearby is a makeshift graveyard that the UNHCR has buried over 500 bodies recovered on the beaches around Bab al Mandeb.

These exhausted new arrivals, who are given automatic political asylum, will soon be picked up and driven to the camp that I was at last week.

Another full day; convicting to use the word exhausted. I have no idea what that word means. 

Shema in her favorite class, math. 

Shema taking me to meet her family and see her house. 

The village is near the sea but it is extremely hot. 

Enjoying our catch. Eating the best lunch I’ve had the whole trip. 

New refugees eating high energy food biscuits and drinking much needed water.