I’ve been going through a mix of Haiti images shot over the past 13 years for a new promotional piece. Mike Davis recently edited together a collection of forty images for this new brochure. As I processed the files in Capture One I came across a few pics that are memorable to me.

The drive to Sequin from Jacmel takes you over some of the most difficult terrain in Haiti, the road, if it could be called that is nothing more than a rutted track that only a four-wheel drive vehicle can transverse. The group I was with were returning to Jacmel after attending to the medical needs of a remote village near Sequin. This young girl reached her hand out for some food as we drove past.

It is shots like this that I wish I had brought medium format gear along – even something as simple as my Fuji rangefinder. The young girl and her mother walked along a dirt road with the chickens and poultry and soon were no longer visible in the fog that surrounds this mountain village.

This young girl was within hours of dying from malnutrition. Her mother had lost her husband in the earthquake and had returned home to her village. A young internist had found this baby and called to us by cell phone and asked our group to stop and see if we could help the child. He built a cairn along side of the road to mark the family’s home. We loaded the baby and her mother into the back of the truck where we made a nest of sorts for her. We took her to the hospital in Cayes Jacmel and came back a day later to see them. It was incredible, the baby responded to the liquids and fluids. We were concerned that the child may not make it to the bottom of the mountain when we first found her.

When our group arrived at Caye Jacmel, Jill ( a doctor with Inova) and her first nurse attended to this child who was suffering from Dehydration. The child was scared and it took a few hours of her lying still in order for the fluids to work their magic.

Yesterday morning, I got up early and headed to Port au Prince from Jacmel. The goal, Continental Airlines and a 2:30 flight to Newark. I’ve always been loyal to American Airlines and rarely fly other carriers. On Tuesday, Port au Prince Airport was closed due to Hurricane Irene lashing the northern half of Haiti. All the flights were cancelled and the soonest American could get me out was Saturday. So, I decided to go for it. PAP Airport International Terminal holds several airlines – American has a separate terminal with a courteous staff, professional security and a can-do attitude. I wish I could say the same for Continental. Standing outside of the terminal in a long que while a Thunderstorm roared overhead is not my idea of a good way to start a flight. The inside of the terminal looked like a cross between Mad Max, Escape from New York and the Fall of Saigon. It was by far, the most stressful day in my life. I finally made it to the states on a flight that left at 8:00 and landed in Newark near midnight. Three hours of sleep and I am back on a plane heading south.

Here are a few pics I made as we drove from Jacmel to Leogaine to Carrefour and into Port au Prince. All shot with my trusty Lumix GF-1 and shot from the hip. I rarely look through the viewfinder or electronic display when shooting with this camera.