David Zentz January 16, 2009
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Haiti.Tags: Haiti
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Bord de Mer de Limonade, Haiti
David Zentz (b.1978, American) is a photojournalist based in Los Angeles, California. Following his master’s in mass communications at the University of Florida in 2005, David completed internships at a number of newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times, before landing a full-time position at the Journal Star in Peoria, Illinois in 2006. In 2008 he left newspapers and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a freelance career. He has completed numerous projects, both domestically and abroad, on subjects ranging from mental health issues among Peoria’s chronically homeless population to the hip-hop culture in Haiti. His work has been recognized by CPOY, the Southern Short Course and the NPPA.
About the Photograph:
A man bathes in the Atlantic Ocean near Bord de Mer de Limonade on the northern coast of Haiti as a boat of men row a sailboat across the horizon, likely on their way to a fishing spot. I spent a couple weeks this past summer traveling in Haiti to document several of the annual Voodou festivals that take place each summer across the Caribbean island nation. One of them, where this image was made, was a sunrise ritual during which pilgrims who have come from across the country bath in the sea at Bord de Mer de Limonade. However, this image, for me, stands apart from the rest of the photos taken that day because it is less about the ritual than it is about the Haitian people’s relationship with the water that surrounds them.
I enjoyed the description of the Haitian people and the water. For me, the man in the foreground of this photo is a direct representation of the relationship with water. There is something very similar about the figure’s relaxed posture and the peaceful ripples in the water, almost as if both were part of the same body.
Beautiful Photo!
Water play a very significant role in Haitians life, it was obviously show cased in this photo. The photo looks calm.