The earthquake in Port au Prince, Haiti has left devastation and immense pain in its wake. What was always a difficult situation in an impoverished country has become a true nightmare for the Haitian people.
The streets of Port au Prince, Haiti are filled with rubble, smoke, human remains and the smell of the dead. Downtown Port au Prince is what one might picture as the end of days. Bodies decompose on the streets and the hands of the dead and trapped reach out from the rubble. Hundreds of Haitians are fighting for survival, looting the destroyed stores and fighting for what they have pillaged. I witnessed countless beatings and was twenty feet away from a young woman when she was shot in the face and killed by police (I will post these images in my next post on the earthquake in Haiti.) A photos of her husband crying over her body is in this post.
Refugee camps are literally on every block and public parks have become make-shift homes to thousands. Families construct shelters out of flimsy fabric sheets and sleep in the squalor of waste, refuse and dirt, cooking simple meals in the same gutters that must be used as toilets and bathing areas. In the several dozen refugee camps I visited, I never once saw an aid worker, food supplies, shelter supplies or any form of assistance or education as to how to avoid disease and survive in this difficult situation. While it is necessary to search for survivors, it is also necessary to take car of those who have survived.
Although the situation after the earthquake in Haiti is horrible, the spirit of the Haitian people is truly strong and beautiful. Although there is violence in the streets, the vast majority of people are just struggling to survive and helping their friends, family and neighbors to do so also. Much, much more needs to be done to help the people of Haiti recover and live in dignity and this need will continue for a very long time. This disaster will take years to recover from, not just months. We must continue to pay attention to the situation there and remember that while there is dire and immediate need there, this will not go away after a few weeks of media attention and fund raising. I urge all of you to get involved in any way you can in the effort to help the Haitian people.
A woman passes in front of the burning remains a destroyed building in downtown Port au Prince, Haiti in the wake of the Haitian Earthquake.
A body decomposes on the streets of Port au Prince.
A man cries after is wife is shot dead by police during looting in downtown Port au Prince.
A family photo of a young child lies in the rubble of a home destroyed by the earthquake.
Residents navigate the remains of their home in search of lost belongings.
Haitians search through destroyed shops while a fire burns dead corpses on the street.
Men try to dig items out of their destroyed home.
The arm of a corpse decomposes on the street.
A woman recovers in a hospital from injuries she sustained during the earthquake.
A man covers his nose to block out the smell of decomposing bodies while walking down the streets of Port au Prince.
A man who sustained serious injuries to his face during the earthquake recovers in a hospital in the Dominican Republic.
A woman shrouded in the smoke of burning garbage in a large, make-shift refugee camp in Port au Prince, Haiti.
Zoriah, This is probably the most accurate and truthful portrayal of the situation in Haiti.. Very saddening and disturbing at the same time.. I'm praying for these people..
I'm interested to know why the woman was killed by the police.
Posted by: Krishna | January 26, 2010 at 10:33
great news..
Posted by: arnel | January 26, 2010 at 11:00
That's like the 3rd or 4th report I've heard of someone killed for looting. How gut wrenchingly tragic- that man's wife survives the quake, only to be shot dead for trying to fend for herself and family
Posted by: erialc | January 26, 2010 at 13:13
Amazing photo's Zoriah. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Nick | January 26, 2010 at 17:14
Beautiful images of such a tragic situation. Why do you use so much toning though? I would like to see what they looked like when they came out of the camera...
Posted by: Marius Smaizys | January 26, 2010 at 20:19
Amazing photos.
Glad you made it back safe.
Posted by: Earl B | January 26, 2010 at 20:44
Your photography never ceases to amaze me. I am glad your journey there and back was a safe one. Thank you for sharing and being an inspiration.
Posted by: Laura Martin | January 26, 2010 at 22:32
Touching images.. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: jarek | January 26, 2010 at 22:33
It is great that a photographic record of this terrible event is being made; so often the passage of time removes the reality of a horrific event.
Thank you for sharing some incredible images with all of us.
Betty A. Muscott, Child Photographer
www.realkidsphotography.com
Posted by: Betty A. Muscott | January 27, 2010 at 00:18
Thank you for sharing these photographs with us. We need to have a good record of this event because over time people begin to forget.
It is important to save a historical photographic record so that we never do forget.
Posted by: Betty A. Muscott | January 27, 2010 at 00:21
wow.
Posted by: Hanna P | January 27, 2010 at 01:03
Great work of horrible things happening in the world, would love to be there and lend a helping hand. i will do my best here from Denmar as petty as that sounds. keep up the good work and keep safe.
Hordur
Posted by: Hordur Asbjornsson | January 27, 2010 at 01:52
Incredible
Posted by: Slimeface | January 27, 2010 at 02:01
Yes it is sad, but has anyone looked under an over-pass or at any busy off-ramp in US cities? The US is also full of tragedy yet TV and NEWS crews focus on the external big events of the moment. It reminds me of what an Israeli guy told me in Tibet a few years ago…before we help people in another country we should help those in our own. I wonder what the people of New Orleans think about the focus on Haiti?
Posted by: Livio Bestulic | January 27, 2010 at 02:42
Much like with the stunning photos of the destruction of Haiti's Presidential Palace, these before and after photos of the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, also known as Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, show just how severe the destruction was.
Posted by: buy r4i software | January 27, 2010 at 08:36
@livio
why do people feel a need to focus the attention back to something else? is it not enough that it's tragic for you? what do you care about how people want to donate their money? you donate to NO and you get people to do it. is it patriotic to only care about the pain in suffering that occurs in your own land? show us your amazing photos of the busy off-ramps in the US. i'd love to see them. send me a link, i'd love to donate. meanwhile stop trying to take the haitian tragedy away from the haitians. they are entitled to and deserve whatever attention they're getting. (maybe you should go there and remind them of the suffering that is happening in the US)
Posted by: Fernando | January 27, 2010 at 22:20
Thank you for another glimpse at a truly devastating and sad disaster. I will continue to think of you and the people there that need our help!
Posted by: Keith | January 28, 2010 at 03:39
Feel sad after seeing this photograph... feel sorry...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Viva-Magazine-Your-Premium-Womens-Natural-Health-Magazine/262734921452?ref=ts
Posted by: Environment | February 01, 2010 at 13:00
Shocking images. But we MUST know the true, is needed. Action and Reaction.
Thanks for this great work.
Regards.
Carina Felice
Photographer Free Lance
http://carinafelice.blogspot.com
Posted by: Carina Felice | February 04, 2010 at 20:02
Iam going to pray for Everyone ...Hope everyone wil get well soon...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Viva-Magazine-Your-Premium-Womens-Natural-Health-Magazine/262734921452?ref=ts
Posted by: Preventive Measures | February 05, 2010 at 05:31
how could they've shot his wife???
what kind of world is this?! it isn't fare for these people...
Posted by: potenta | March 06, 2010 at 14:22
i et my brother who injuried at port-au-prince in the earth quake he can't talk his name is Gaby Nelson He is 29 years old he borned on march 20 1981 we went to board they said to us they saw some one like that at the shelter but they don't have any information about him because he could not give to them the information about him please help find my brother we went to DR capitol they said to us again USA took a lot of them to USA please help me
Posted by: MAteny Nelson | March 29, 2010 at 19:11
Very shocking pictures, terrible disaster. All the best for the Haiti people.
James
http://www.rapidskunk.com
Posted by: James | April 30, 2010 at 16:10
Boy that guy in the second photo had really nice, white teeth!
Posted by: Only the best | June 06, 2010 at 23:30
I am very pleased to leave my messages in your posts, I'd love to hear any other feedback that you or your readers.God Bless you and your wonderful family and the happiest.
Posted by: Air Jordan shoes | June 12, 2010 at 12:10
Very nice pictures!!and you will get some prises to sir!!But Want to ask all that people who are passes from this blogs and all them too who will see this photographs at exhibition,This photograph is not for your clapping,It is reality and Do something in life to help them,so you can say with proud that you have done something best in your past.
Posted by: running shoes sale | June 23, 2010 at 03:00
I can't find find my brother Gaby please help to find him.
Posted by: allisgood2009@live.com | August 01, 2010 at 23:02
Those pictures will illustrate to l future generations the depth and the breath of this cataclysm and how vulnerable life is. This earthquake strikes the poor and the rich with the same ruthlessness. This is not a situation where gold,wealth,body guard or an arsenal of weapon could save one's life.
Posted by: cheapest generic viagra | August 02, 2010 at 12:04
this probably the worst natural disaster in the story of mankind, just with a little look of this pictures and you noticed the pain and suffering, you must to be mercy and feel compassion for this people, people who has lost everything in this issue, people who still suffer in this moment.
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