Haiti Insight Volume 8, No. 1

by: J.P Slavin, New York, NY

DANIEL MOREL

Photojournalist

A retrospective of the work of photojournalist Daniel Morel opened 23 February at the Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA. 70130, tel: 504.523.1216. The show will be up until 11 April 1998.

There is perhaps only one thing that Daniel Morel loves more than taking pictures. And that is being around children.

An industrious photographer and prolific artist, Morel has not only covered every major news story that has erupted in his native Haiti since 1985, but also thousands of stories that have never made it into the pages of The Miami Herald, The New York Times, or Vanity Fair, some of the newspapers and magazines that regularly feature Morel's images. In the proud journalistic tradition of working the streets, following leads, and playing hunches, Morel has no equal when it comes to covering the Haiti story. I don't think I have ever seen him without at least one camera slung over his right shoulder. And rarely does a morning pass in Port-au-Prince when he does not leave his home for work. And going to work for Daniel Morel means being prepared to report on whatever happens in Haiti.

And as we all know by now, a "whatever" in Haiti can be a very big dangerous deal. During his 13 years as a photojournalist in Haiti, the country has endured at least 13 governments; three major popular uprisings; a minimum of four coups d'etat and countless coup attempts; hundreds of thousands of refugees known the world over as boat people; and an invasion force of more than 20,000 U.S. troops.

While the cliché "written in blood" accurately describes much of Haitian history, Morel has also faithfully recorded the "other" Haiti that rarely makes into a news section. The Haiti of religious fidelity, red hot Voudou ceremonies, tipsy pre-Carnival RARA parades, out-of-tune jazz funerals, and perhaps most importantly, the never ending struggle to live with personal dignity in the face of crushing obstacles.

Many of these political and religious events make up some Morel's most powerful images. A New York Times front-page photograph of a weeping woman clutching her baby after being forcibly repatriated by the U.S. Coast Guard. While hiding in a shaded passageway, taking photographs of Gen. Cédras' zenglendo attachés who minutes earlier had executed political activist Antoine Izmery after dragging him from a Port-au-Prince church service. Another powerful Morel image is of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide praying on his knees just before exiting the aircraft that returned him to Haiti after three years of forced exile.

It is the rare visitor to Haiti who can't help but become dazzled by the country's children, especially the young people growing up in the slums of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Despite overwhelming hardships, these children find joy not only from the love and support that defines a traditional Haitian upbringing, but from playing bantering games with other children...and friendly journalists who work bidonvilles looking for new stories. It nearly never fails that when a photographer aims his or her camera at a smiling child in a slum like Cité Soleil, Tokio, or La Saline, the smile disappears before the shutter is released. It is as if the child can feel that the photographer is taking something from them -- perhaps an irreplaceable part of their innocence. During the four years I spent working as a foreign correspondent in Haiti, Morel was the only photographer I knew who when he focused his camera on a young child, the smile stayed bright, even when he clicked the shutter.

"For five years, I've been taking photographs of my own children at least twice a week," Morel explained from Port-au-Prince during a recent telephone interview, referring to his son, Seitu, 4, and daughter, Ayanna, 3. "I started taking pictures of Seitu when Edmee, my wife, first became pregnant with him. I'm very proud of the work and over the years, the pictures are getting better."

Daniel Morel, 47, was born in Port-au-Prince on February 9, 1951. He is a graduate of the College Bird, whose most notoriously distinguished alumnus is Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Morel moved to the United States after completing his studies, and became a citizen while serving for three years in the U.S. Army.

After attending Kapiolanis Community College in Hawaii, Morel returned to Haiti in 1981, which was still under the firm control of the Duvalier family dictatorship. The regime made a point of keeping contact with the outside world at a minimum; it was even a crime to listen to a short-wave radio. With a camera viewed as a potentially subversive instrument by the government, it was not only impossible for a Haitian to work as an independent photojournalist, it was unheard of. During this period Morel discreetly pursued his love of photography by taking pictures of farmers and poor street merchants in the mountaintop village of Kenscoff, where he currently resides with his family.

When the Duvalier regime collapsed on February 7, 1986, Morel began working for Haitian newspapers and quickly established a reputation for excellence in a new Haitian industry: the independent press. His work was included in a group show on Haiti held at the Alternative Museum in New York City in 1987; the other featured photographers included James Nachtwey of Magnum Photos and Maggie Steber, a contract photographer with Newsweek and National Geographic. In 1988, Morel began working as a photojournalist for the Associated Press and was named the AP's resident photographer in Haiti in 1991. In 1992, his work was featured in the prestigious photography magazine, Aperture.

"I have remained in Haiti for all of these years because I have not done enough yet," Morel said. "I want to do something of value. I see a progress in my pictures, but you know, you have to make something new with your work all the time. You don't want to repeat yourself and that challenge keeps me going."

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