GEMAP Liberia
In May 2010, I traveled as part of a Digital Development Communications production team to the West African republic of Liberia. My partner Luis Dechtiar and I produced a short video about the USAID-sponsored GEMAP (Government Economic Management Assistance Program). The program focused on capacity-building training mainly in the area of financial management at key government institutions and state-owned enterprises, such as the Ministry of Finance, the National Port Authority, and Roberts International Airport.
IntraHealth Kenya
In 2009, I went to Kenya in East Africa on an assignment for Digital Development Communications. DDC is the company I helped co-found in 2004 with my cousins Colby & Ann Gottert along with some other friends in Madagascar. Colby currently runs DDC out of Chapel Hill, NC. The project in Kenya was a short [...]
Bahá’í Pilgrimage
For members of the Bahá’í Faith, Pilgrimage is a sacred journey we are encouraged to make at least once in our lifetime. During Pilgrimage, Bahá’ís travel to Israel to visit the Bahá’í World Center, the spiritual and administrative heart of the international Bahá’í community. In the neighboring cities of Akká and Haifa, respectively, stand the Shrines of Bahá’u'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, and the Báb, His Forerunner.
For nine days in 2009, I myself undertook this Pilgrimage.
Music in Madagascar
In 2006, while living in Madagascar, I covered local concerts for the Culture section of one of the country’s daily newspapers. Night after night, I gained entry to see some of Madagascar’s top musicians. Here is a selection of my favorite images.
Malagasy Silk Weaving Process
Woven silk shawls called ‘lamba landy’ are a traditional handicraft of the central Malagasy highlands. Originally used in the Famadihana exhumation ceremony, a pivotal ritual in Madagascar that honors the dead, lambas are now a chic fashion accessory. But the silk weaving process remains largely the same for producers like the Firaisankina Silk Weavers Cooperative [...]
Firaisankina Silk Weavers Cooperative
The Firaisankina Silk Weavers Cooperative is an organization of over 100 Malagasy women dedicated to preserving and promoting the local tradition of hand-made cloths called ‘lambas.’ Embodying the Malagasy proverb that ‘one silk strand is strong, but when they are woven together they are stronger,’ these enterprising women joined together to better approach the emerging [...]
Madagascar ’03-06 Black & White
Madagascar is an island nation located off the coast of East Africa in the Indian Ocean. I lived there on and off for four years between 2003-2007, working on a variety of media productions and art projects in service to that beautiful country. Although I lived in the capital Antananarivo, often my work granted me [...]