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I had the privilege to visit and photograph an orphanage in Tanzania for a friend that supports the facility. It was an amazing experience, very fulfilling. The children in the orphanage were such a pleasure to visit with, so desperate for companionship. Something that will stay with me for life.
Every one of the orphans has a sad tale to tell from both parents dying of AIDS to being born as an albino and not being wanted. Some of the sadest stories are of orphans just being left on the street corner because the parents could not take care of them anymore. No contraceptives and no abortions leads to many kids being born unwanted.
I'm planning a return trip to the orphanage and surrounding area whenever Covid is controlled. Every year a work group gets together and builds onto the orphanage. Some notable things the work group has done in past years was to install a hand pump well enabling water to be obtained right at the orphanage rather than being carried in buckets from a river about 1km away. An outdoor kitchen was built so that cooking and eating could be done away from where the orphans sleep to control cockroaches. A shower was built with sun warmed water so it's more convenient to get clean.
These projects and many more were paid for and administrated by my friend who has been doing this for the last 12 years.
This is beautiful work--really moving. The way you feel about these kids is evident in the care you've taken in making their portraits. Thanks for doing it and sharing it here.
Best Regards,
Brent
bnfotografie wrote:
This is beautiful work--really moving. The way you feel about these kids is evident in the care you've taken in making their portraits. Thanks for doing it and sharing it here.
Best Regards,
Brent
Brent, thanks for your feedback. It's hard for me to tell if the images portray the feelings I had at the orphanage. So much of the experience stuck with me. The entire 3 week trip put a perspective on my life and how good we have things here in this part of the world.
I love the tonality of these beautiful photographs and I’m wondering what equipment was used for these? That aside, my heart felt pierced when looking at your photographs, and I had the thought that if I were not pushing 65, I would want to adopt one of these children. These are very human photographs that connect us at the deepest level. 🙏🏽
Harry these are wonderful depictions of these children. I bet that experience as you say will stay with you forever. They each have a special emotion for me in them but wow that second one is powerful and and an excellent portrait.
Take care, I'll wipe away a tear or two now.........
Karl
Wilfredo wrote:
I love the tonality of these beautiful photographs and I’m wondering what equipment was used for these? That aside, my heart felt pierced when looking at your photographs, and I had the thought that if I were not pushing 65, I would want to adopt one of these children. These are very human photographs that connect us at the deepest level. 🙏🏽
Wilfredo, I use a Sony A7R2 camera along with either a Batis 25mm or 85mm lens. I process my images in Lightroom and use Nik Silver Efex to convert to B&W.
Tanzania has very strict adoption laws making it almost impossible to adopt a child. I contribute to the cause by donating prints for auctions whose proceeds goes to the orphanage. There is a lot of fund raising that goes on and many businesses donate clothes, shoes and school supplies. Containers full of stuff gets shipped to Dar Es Salaam, but with the corrupt system in place, you have to grease many palms before the supplies show up at the orphanage. Sometimes stuff just goes missing.
I'm blessed to have never known what it is to lose parents at such a young age and be put in an orphanage. As a parent it's such a sad thing to see.
Anyway, I think you did quite well in capturing both their dignity and sadness all at once. The images are both both beautiful and sad at the same time. Speaks to the heart. Well done. And I absolutely love the toning which works extremely well for these images.
This is definitely one of those thanks for sharing moments.
Such a sad and corrupt situation. Thank you for your efforts, I’m sure it makes a difference in the lives of these children. I’m shooting with the A7RIII now, and very happy with my Black and White conversions. I mostly do Black and White photography and my partner camera is a Leica Monochrom, CCD versión. Beautiful photographs! God bless these children! 🙏🏽
Andrew2 wrote:
I'm blessed to have never known what it is to lose parents at such a young age and be put in an orphanage. As a parent it's such a sad thing to see.
Anyway, I think you did quite well in capturing both their dignity and sadness all at once. The images are both both beautiful and sad at the same time. Speaks to the heart. Well done. And I absolutely love the toning which works extremely well for these images.
This is definitely one of those thanks for sharing moments.
Thanks.
Thank you Andrew. I was actually contacted by my friend that administrates the orphanage to go to Tanzania and shoot the kids so she had some images she could use in her fund raising campaigns. The goal was to get some images that tugged at the heart.
As far as losing parents at such a young age...many of these children are lucky in that they ended up in an orphanage where someone cares for them. Many more end up in the streets without anyone looking after them with very little future going forward.
Sad as it is, much of the world in pretty cruel and for many of us that don't have insights into different parts of this world, we are ignorant of what reality is elsewhere.
These are powerful, poignant images wonderfully presented, but sad and disturbing.
Curious where in TZ? BTW, you may have been there: in Arusha is a restaurant and crafts store. In the open air studio are disabled workers created jewelry from glass, beads and other elements.
If you (or others) are interested, I will post in a separate thread.
