PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI. Interior of the collapsed National Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Saturday, January 30, 2010. Archbishop Serge Miot was killed when the 18th. century cathedral was destroyed in the massive 7.0 earthquake on January 12th., killing upwards of 300,000 people. © Chet Gordon / THE IMAGE WORKS
Today is the fifth anniversary of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010. Upwards of 300,00 people were killed and thousands are still living in camps under miserable conditions. There is a very special place in my heart for Haiti and the Haitian people. My first self-assigned international shooting trip was to Haiti in 1993; just 5 years after beginning my newspaper career, and I’ve returned to the island nation two additional times. Haitian photographer Daniel Morel is a good friend, and I’ve known Daniel since that first trip in ’93. I will add a slideshow here highlighting my week’s work after the earthquake, where I was summoned with one day’s notice to accompany humanitarian client Operation Smile, as they sent a team of trauma surgeons to treat the injured. Note: (I’ve decided to re-edit the original hi-res files and use them in B/W here. The strength of the B/W imagery really makes the take have sort of a timeless feel to them…) Stay tuned. ~cg.
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
