As a westerner or perhaps more importantly, a citizen of a prosperous nation, there are certain realities that are not realities to me.  Specifically the struggle for life of those in foreign lands.  It is obvious that the physical distance and lack of personal connection with those people is what keeps it from being a reality not necessarily because they are suffering in ways I have not experienced.   There is however a certain connection that makes the suffering of a human in a far off land relevant to me.  It is my hope and belief that this connection I feel is one that on some level is inherent in every human.  There is a level of responsibility felt to care for another because they are a human and nothing more. 

I mention this to contextualize my images.  For many reasons we turn off our sense of responsibility or perhaps just our sense to care for those we have no connection with.  Without this connection my work at best becomes well composed images.  So I leave the responsibility in the eyes of the viewer now.  We cannot solve all the problems but we can care and sometimes just knowing someone else cares is meaningful.      

The people of Haiti endure hardships that we consider an emergency but for them it is just daily life.  Each day is a struggle for basic necessities.  Many Haitians live in unsanitary and cramped conditions.  Many homes consist of thin metal sheets and a dirt floor.

 They are a people with very little yet they are extremely industrious.  In my time there I walked the streets and the slums where there was a constant flurry of activity.  Women laboring over stews and vegetables preparing meager meals to sell amidst the streets.  Older woman tended to the homes and laundry.  Though water is sparse clean clothing is a must to the Haitian.  Creative men labored away creating.  One such man I came upon collected scrap metals to create furniture in a fashion reminiscent of the great sculptor Frank Gehry.  He sat in the slums with a hammer and anvil paying no mind to the strange white westerner that had just entered, too engulfed as any true artist by his work.  Another area I happened upon a wood worker who was busy crafting wooden bowls.  He paused proudly showing the work of his hand inviting me to photograph him with his wares.

 Everywhere I went the Haitians were furiously at work laboring.  Their predicament cannot be attributed to apathy or slothfulness.  While many Haitians are unemployed it is not because they have no interest to work.  Despite their circumstances the Haitians have a resilience.  The Haitian people seem to take life one day at a time because they can do little more. However, this drain for everyday survival has not crushed their spirit.  They have a hope in their future as a nation however great the odds.              

- Joseph Molieri